Just days after his careless driving claimed his wife’s life, a 76-year-old Italian tourist admitted the charge in court so he could fly home to grieve.
Sandro Guatelli made an emotional appearance in Gore District Court yesterday and pleaded guilty to careless driving causing the death of 75-year-old Patrizia Botti.
His daughter, who was sitting in the front seat during the fatal Winton crash, stood with her father in the dock to translate.
The family were on a family holiday in New Zealand when the tragedy occurred.
On January 15, Guatelli was driving his wife, daughter and another relative back to Queenstown after a day trip in Bluff, the police summary said.
His wife was sitting in the back seat.
About 3pm, he failed to take a minor bend in the Winton township, continuing in a straight line for 10m, crossing about 75cm over the centre line.
His daughter told the court she screamed when she noticed a truck coming towards them, but her father appeared "zoned out" and did not react.
They collided with the front corner of the truck, causing significant damage to both vehicles, and Mrs Botti received fatal injuries.
Police said Guatelli was travelling about 85kmh and had slowed to 50kmh as he entered Winton.
When he spoke to police after, Guatelli was extremely remorseful, could not remember the accident and might have "blacked out", the police summary said.
Counsel Tanya McCullum said this was not a case of her client being unaccustomed to driving on the left side of the road.
Since their retirement, the couple had visited their daughter in Australia every year, for three months at a time, she said.
"This is exceptionally devastating for everyone involved.
"There’s going to be nothing worse than what this defendant is going through," she said.
Counsel explained the family were not able to take Mrs Botti’s ashes home as they were yet to be released.
Following sentencing, they were going to fly to Australia to be with family, before Guatelli returned to Balano, Italy.
Guatelli’s daughter was going to return to New Zealand to pick the ashes up later.
Judge Russell Walker said cases like this were particularly tragic and acknowledged it was a difficult situation for everyone involved.
"The penalty to be imposed can not possibly match the consequence of a moment’s carelessness," he said.
The lapse in this case was careless, not intentional, he said.
Already emotional, once that was translated to him, Guatelli began to sob.
In translating the judge’s condolences to the family, the daughter became emotional and her elderly father continued to cry.
Guatelli was ordered to pay $2503 for towing and vehicle inspections and was disqualified from driving in New Zealand for a year.
"Of course the court can’t do anything that comes even close to ... compensating the loss of life," Judge Walker said.
"I can’t impose any penalty on you beyond the penalty you’ve imposed on yourself."
