Fine for driver in family fatality

A FATIGUED man who killed his son in a truck crash after driving for 27 hours across three states has been spared prison, fined, and banned from the roads for six months.

The Adelaide Magistrates Court opted not to jail Tuan Khanh Nguyen, saying he could neither be more punished for, nor more deterred from, repeating his mistake.

Instead, Magistrate Jayanthi Mcgrath fined Nguyen $3500, imposed a six-month disqualification – the minimum under state law – and wished him well.

“This court process is the result of what can only be described as a tragedy,” she said.

“I hope that the end of that process can in some small way contribute to you working through your grief and making some headway to resolving the distress and grief you naturally feel.”

Nguyen, 58, of Perth, was charged with one count of causing the death of his son Anthony, 27, by dangerous driving.

Instead, he pleaded guilty to one aggravated count of driving without due care.

In August last year, Nguyen was behind the wheel of a truck that crashed into a tree at Coorabie on the Eyre Hwy, about 160km west of Ceduna.

He and Anthony – a young father who was recovering from an earlier motorcycle accident – were driving the truck to Perth from Melbourne, where they had purchased it.

The court heard that drive usually took 21 hours, but the men had been travelling for 27½ hours with Nguyen doing all of the driving due to Anthony’s existing injuries.

It heard that he became fatigued as the truck approached Coorabie and was looking for a place to pull over and rest when the crash occurred.

Michael Woods, for Nguyen, said his client had an unblemished driving history prior to the crash and had been left

I WHOLLY BLAME MYSELF; I OFTEN THINK IT SHOULD HAVE BEEN ME WHO DIED AND WONDER WHY IT WAS MY SON

devastated by the consequences of his actions.

“He says, ‘I was the driver of the vehicle and I wholly blame myself; I often think it should have been me who died and wonder why it was my son’,” he said.

“Anthony’s son is four years old, and my client has taken on the role of being his father, as if the boy was his.

“The impact upon him has been real and extreme … there is no possible way to further deter him; the issue is deterring others in the public from acting in the same manner.”

Ms Mcgrath agreed, saying the fine she had imposed would serve as a public deterrent.