THERE had been no time for a sedan or truck to take evasive action when a collision occurred and three women were fatally injured four years ago on the Great Western Highway east of Lithgow.
An eyewitness to the horrific accident which claimed the life of two sisters and a friend had been driving in a line of cars when he saw a red Australia Post truck veer to the right across the centre of the highway and crash into the sedan.
As a result of the accident about 2pm on Sunday, August 29, 2004 two sisters, Lucy Herden, 42 and Cecilia Herden, 39 and their friend Lyndall Denham, 43, were all killed.
The driver of the Australia Post truck, Anthony James Barnes, who was driving from Alexandria to Kelso escaped injury in the accident over which he had faced charges.
However, the inquiry was told yesterday that the Director of Public Prosecutions had declined to prosecute charges of dangerous and negligent driving causing death.
The investigating officer Detective Sergeant Ian Mitchell tendered a letter from the DPP that Deputy State Coroner Carl Milovanovich had formally marked as an exhibit in his inquiry into the circumstances surrounding the death of the three women.
Mr Milovanovich also heard evidence from prison officer Trevor Bellett.
Mr Bellett was driving home from Lithgow to Faulconbridge in a line of eastbound traffic when the west bound postal truck driven by Mr Barnes came around a bend and veered to the right across the centre line into the Mitsubishi.
Mr Bellett had been interviewed and his statement was read into the records by Sergeant Julie Tillott, assisting Mr Milovanovich.
“There was no time for the sedan or the truck to take evasive action,” Mr Bellett said.
Mr Bellett called 000 to summon police and ambulance to the accident after he’d observed two women in the front of the sedan had apparently been killed and their passenger was badly injured.
All three were trapped in the car under the truck.
He had driven the stretch of road from home to work for more than three years, he was familiar with the area and drove to the conditions as well as the flow of traffic, saying rain that day was the first for some time and he was aware oil could come to the surface and make the surface slippery.
It was a 90km/h sign posted area, but Mr Bellett had driven at 70km/h following a brown car that was just behind the blue Mitsubishi involved in the accident.
Mr Bellett had watched the truck come from the sharpest part of the bend, straight across the centre line.
“The truck came around and shot across, continuing straight and caused the accident,” Mr Bellett said.
It had been the nature of the tragedy neither the driver of the motor car or the truck had any time to correct their courses, it was just “bang”, he said.
Mr Bellett added “they had no time, no chance, to take evasive action before the truck was on top of them.”
The inquest will continue this morning at the Bathurst Court House.