A truck driver who killed a man on the road by overcorrecting after a moment of inattention has avoided a prison sentence for the tragedy he caused.
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Warren Blake, 53, was sentenced to a four year community corrections order with 450 hours of unpaid community work at County Court of Victoria on Tuesday.
He will not be able to work as a truck driver in the near future, with a five year licence disqualification imposed.
Judge Michael Bourke said he found Blake was 'genuinely remorseful' and imprisoning him would cause extreme hardship to his family, particularly his son who has intellectual disabilities.
"The hardship to your child and family would be a major cause of injustice if I was to imprison you," he said.
Blake pleaded guilty in July to one charge of dangerous driving causing the death of truck driver Andrew Rodger, 55, in a 'traumatic' collision in Parwan on March 25, 2019.
The hardship to your child and family would be a major cause of injustice if I was to imprison you.
- Judge Michael Bourke
Both Blake and Rodger were driving Kenworth trucks towing a tipper trailer filled with gravel on the Geelong-Bacchus Marsh Road at 6.30am.
Blake drove onto the wrong side of the single-lane road in a moment of inattention and overcorrected, causing his trailer to jackknife and tip over.
Rodger's truck struck the trailer, veered off the road into a rural property and into a farm shed.
There was substantial damage to Rodger's truck cab and he died at the scene.
Judge Bourke said Blake's error caused an 'extraordinarily violent collision' and the 'horrific nature' had an added impact on Rodger's family.
He said Rodger's wife felt great loss, isolation, dread, anger and guilt that the emotional damage to her harms her connection with children and grandchildren.
Judge Bourke said the offending also had a significant impact on Blake, who experienced post traumatic stress disorder, flashbacks and could not return to work as a truck driver.
He said in the absence of a sentence of imprisonment, the community corrections order imposed must contain elements of punishment.
Blake's will be required to complete 450 hours of unpaid community work, supervision, mental health treatment and programs as part of his four-year order.
Judge Bourke said if not for Blake's plea of guilty, he would have imposed a sentence of two years' imprisonment, with a 12-month non-parole period.
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