A horror crash on the New England Highway outside Scone was caused when a driver towing a caravan missed the warning signs that his lane was ending and failed to merge safely, causing a three-vehicle crash that claimed the life of 41-year-old truck driver Brendon Van Ryn.
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He wasn't speeding and he wasn't under the influence, but the case of R v Weston Francis Doley shows just how easily an oversight or momentary inattention can have tragic consequences on Hunter roads.
Doley, 63, appeared in Singleton Local Court this week and pleaded guilty to negligent driving occasioning death over the three-vehicle crash on April 4 this year.
According to a statement of facts prepared by the Hunter Crash Investigation Unit, Doley was driving a Toyota Landcruiser and towing a caravan as he headed north along the New England Highway towards the township of Wingen about midday.
The highway is a 100km/h and a single lane in each direction until a point approaching Wingen when a second northbound lane opens up to allow traffic to overtake.
After some distance, the two northbound lanes become one again and the vehicles travelling in the inside lane must merge into lane two.
On the day of the crash, as the second lane appeared, an Australia Post Volvo semi-trailer merged across into lane two and began overtaking Doley's Landcruiser and caravan, according to court documents.
But some time later, as lane one was coming to an end the two vehicles were still driving side by side.
Northbound traffic approaching the termination of the dual lanes are faced with a number of warning signs, including white painted arrows on the roadway and "LEFT LANE ENDS - MERGE RIGHT" for a distance of about 150m before lane one ends, according to court documents.
But with his lane coming to an end, Doley merged right and into the path of the semi-trailer, impacting with the left hand side of the truck before "wrapping around the front".
The impact caused the Landcruiser and caravan to separate with the caravan going to the left and the Toyota going to the right across into the southbound lanes where it struck an oncoming Isuzu truck.
The Isuzu truck also collided with the Volvo semi-trailer, which had also crossed onto the wrong side of the road, and the impact trapped the Isuzu truck driver, 41-year-old Brendon Van Ryn, inside.
Mr Van Ryn, a much loved father and husband, was flown to John Hunter Hospital but later died from his injuries.
Doley's wife, who was in the passenger seat of his Landcruiser, suffered multiple injuries, including fractured ribs and a fractured sternum.
A dashcam fitted to the Australia Post semi-trailer captured the lead-up to the crash and the impact and investigators said the footage showed Doley was negligent in failing to give way to the semi-trailer as he merged from the terminating lane one into lane two.
"The accused failed to merge with safety after being afforded 155 metres of warning signs and road markings that the lane was coming to an end," investigators said in court documents.
Doley will be sentenced in Singleton Local Court next month.
