A WANGARATTA truck driver has been cleared of wrongdoing following a Coroner's finding into a fatal collision which killed four people on Wenkes Road near Chiltern in August 2023. The 32-year-old’s prime mover hit a Subaru SUV on the northbound lanes of the Hume Freeway on August 31 last year around 10:25am after the SUV failed to give way at the Wenkes Road intersection. The Coroners Court of Victoria heard Trevor Breen (76) and wife Lorraine (73) took off from Wagga Wagga with Trevor’s sister Kerry Capes (69) and husband Noel (73) earlier that morning. The four were on their way to the Mornington Peninsula to visit one of Kerry and Noel’s sons and had just stopped for a coffee break in Chiltern as Mr Breen resumed driving. At the same time, a truck driver was towing two freighter trailers with his red prime mover towards Sydney. The court heard he had spent the night in his Wangaratta home and inspected the truck, trailers and tyres before commencing driving at around 9:45am that morning. Coroner Simon McGregor said as the Subaru approached the Wenkes Road intersection to enter the freeway, Mr Breen failed to give way to the oncoming truck travelling east. “This omission caused the collision which resulted in the death of the four occupants of the Subaru,” he said. “Despite braking hard and swerving, the truck hit the driver’s side of the Subaru, causing the Subaru to rotate clockwise and clip the wire barrier in the centre median strip, then roll down the road, coming to rest on its passenger side.” The court heard the truck was likely travelling at around 98km/h at the point of impact, with all four occupants dying at the scene of the incident. The truck driver suffered only minor injuries in the collision, and no alcohol or illicit drugs were detected in his system. Mr McGregor said multiple witnesses and dash cam footage of the truck showed its driver was concentrating appropriately and had no opportunity to avoid the collision. “I am further satisfied the driver of the truck could not avoid the collision despite his best efforts,” he said. Mr McGregor conveyed his sincerest condolences to all four victims in the collision along with their families.
