A MINIBUS driver who fell asleep at the wheel and crashed into a paddock, killing a woman and injuring several other passengers, has been sent to prison.
Bruce Kenneth Slater was jailed for 12 months last week after pleading guilty to 13 charges, including dangerous driving causing death and dangerous driving causing injury, over the regional Victoria crash in May 2021.
In sentencing the 77-year-old, County Court Judge Peter Lauritsen described disturbing signs in Slater’s driving that were noticed by other passengers before the crash.
Slater had been driving a group from a senior citizen’s club in Gunbower on a silo art tour.
After leaving on the morning of May 20, several passengers expressed their concerns to Slater about his speed and attitude to driving, after some saw him drive the minibus onto the gravel side of the road 10 times.
Following a lunch break in Benalla, another passenger became worried about Slater’s driving as they felt him drive the vehicle onto gravel again.
About 2.30pm, Slater dozed off and the minibus rolled off the road and hit a post, but he did not correct course despite passengers yelling at him.
After hitting a small tree, Slater steered the vehicle hard to the right and caused it to travel across traffic to the other side of the road and into a ditch where it rolled three times before coming to a rest in a paddock.
A reconstruction of the crash found the bus was travelling at speeds of up to 120km/h.
Echuca woman Casey Spark, 40, was ejected from the bus and died at the scene.
Three others, including Spark’s mother Shirley, were taken to hospital with life-threatening injuries.
Another passenger, Ursula Sutcliffe, had her right leg amputated below the knee.
Slater had suffered from sleep apnoea since mid-1990, but Judge Lauritsen said his CPAP machine was poorly maintained, meaning it was more likely for him to experience excessive sleepiness.
But the judge said he did not see the need for specific deterrence to protect the community from Slater.
“Your ability to drive appears severely impaired from a physical perspective,” Judge Lauritsen said.
“At present, you use a walking frame to move about, even apart from any period of disqualification, one supposes your driving days are over.”
The judge noted Slater’s extensive range of medical issues, including heart and kidney diseases, diabetes, and said he had been residing in aged care since June.
“You do face the possibility of dying in jail, which is the same possibility you would have faced in the community,” Judge Lauritsen said.
Slater will serve a community corrections order for two years once released, and his licence was cancelled for five years.
