An Indian truck driver has been fined $950 but did not have his licence suspended after admitting in court to a running his vehicle off the road in southwest Victoria.
Davinder Singh Brar, who was working for transport giant Linfox at the time of the crash, faced Hamilton Magistrates Court last week where he pleaded guilty to careless driving while being assisted by a Punjabi interpreter.
Brar told the court he had been driving for 16 years and travelled 3 or 4 million kilometres without losing a demerit point or being in an accident before the June 18 incident on the Penshurst-Warrnambool Road, The Standard reported.
The court heard Brar left Melbourne at 3am in a prime mover pulling a trailer and was due for a rest break when he veered onto the wrong side of the road, failed to correct and then lost control, slamming through a fence and down an embankment, but did not roll over.
Brar was caught on onboard cameras yawning and losing concentration before the crash, but blamed a lack of signage on the right-hand bend where the accident occurred.
“I was looking for a waiting or stopping bay but I couldn’t find one. The bend was very sharp but there were no warning signs,” he said, and claimed a neighbour told him a truck had rolled there six months earlier.
Brar also told the court he injured his back and shoulder in the crash and had not worked since.
Magistrate Mark Stratman fined Brar but opted not to suspend his licence.
“As a driver of a heavy vehicle you know you must drive to the road conditions and there are not signs on all corners indicating road characteristics,” he said.
“Drivers of heavy vehicle have an enormous responsibility to themselves and other road users. In future stop immediately when you start to feel tired.”
Header image: A Linfox truck (Linfox).
