Brett Michael Russell, 63, collided with the back of a bus carrying 32 people, including 27 Loreto College Ballarat students, in September 2022.
Russell’s truck, the court was told, was towing two heavily loaded trailers east along the Western Freeway, approaching the north-western town of Bacchus Marsh, about 3.15am on September 21, 2022.
On a wet road, Russell reached a steep descent, where traffic was backed up due to roadworks, and the speed limit had been reduced from 110kph to 40kph.
The driver knew the brakes on his truck and trailers were defective and so, unable to stop, attempted to manoeuvre around the traffic at high speed, however instead, he careened into the back of the school bus.
The impact of the crash pushed the bus through a roadside barrier and down an embankment, where it rolled onto its passenger side.
The students and teachers had been on their way to Melbourne Airport to travel to the United States for a NASA camp.
Miraculously, noone died in the crash, however most of the passengers were taken to hospital and 10 of them suffered serious injuries, including spinal fractures.
ABC News reported that during the trial, prosecutors had listed the range of injuries sustained by students in the crash, including broken bones, cognitive impairment, lacerated organs, post-traumatic stress disorder and long-term back and neck issues.
One student, aged 15 at the time, who was among the most severely injured, had to undergo a life-altering surgery, it said.
Many of the students involved in the crash provided victim impact statements during the trial.
Russell in October pleaded guilty in the Victorian County Court to 12 offences, including 10 counts of negligently causing serious injury.
He admitted he knew the brakes of his 62-tonne vehicle had been faulty before he got behind the wheel on September 21.
But his barrister argued Russell’s actions after the crash, including early admissions to police about the brakes and his guilty pleas, showed his “fundamental decency”.
According to ABC News, when asked by investigators following the crash why he decided to drive despite knowing the brakes were faulty, Russell replied, “I thought, ‘I’ll still be right’.”
When asked what motivated him to make the trip, Russell told investigators he was “trying to do the right thing”.
In sentencing Russell to 12 years and nine months’ jail, Judge Michael O’Connell accepted the 63-year-old had been frank with investigators and was profoundly remorseful.
But the judge noted the suffering of the staff, students, bus driver and bystanders, saying the collision had clearly been a nightmare for all of those involved.
“You knew you were taking a serious risk,” O’Connell said on Monday.
Russell, who went into custody ahead of his sentencing, watched via video link from prison as his sentence was handed down.
He has already served 230 days in pre-sentence detention and will be eligible for parole after eight years.
(with AAP)
