A MAN has been convicted over a crash that killed a truck driver near Scone earlier this year.
Ashtonfield man Weston Francis Doley, 63, faced Singleton Local Court on Wednesday where he was sentenced to a two-year Community Correction Order - essentially a good behaviour bond - fined $1000 and banned from driving for 18 months.
Doley was behind the wheel of a Toyota Landcruiser towing a caravan north along the New England Highway at Wingen about 12pm on April 4 when he merged into an Australia Post semi-trailer in the right-hand lane near the township of Wingen.
The collision with the semi-trailer caused the caravan to break away from the Landcruiser, which wrapped around the front of the postal service vehicle and into the southbound lane - into the path of an oncoming Isuzu rigid truck.
The Landcruiser continued off the side of the road as the crash pushed the Isuzu into the Australia Post semi-trailer.
The driver of the Isuzu, a 41-year-old man, was trapped in the vehicle until emergency crews freed him from the wreck.
He was air-lifted to John Hunter Hospital but later died from his injuries.
Doley and his wife, who was in the passenger seat of the Landcruiser, were taken to hospital with serious injuries - Doley's wife suffered a fractured sternum and ribs, according to court documents.
The driver of the Australia Post semi-trailer was not injured. The semi-trailer was equipped with a dash-cam which captured the entire crash sequence. The footage was handed over to police during the investigation.
A statement of police facts said Doley's actions were negligent because he failed to give way to the semi-trailer, even though there were warning signs and road markings indicating his lane was ending up to 155 metres before it terminated.
