A truck driver who killed an elderly couple on Hobart’s Bowen Bridge was looking down for a dropped cigarette moments before crashing into their car, a coroner has found.
83-year-old Maxwell Tonks and Janice Tonks, 81, died at the scene of the crash in Hobart’s northern suburbs on September 27, 2024.
Their daughter, Sindy Tonks, was driving them home to Brighton around 3:30pm after an afternoon of appointments in Claremont and Glenorchy.
Antonios Van Eldik was driving a Hino pump truck behind their silver Barina at the 80km/h speed limit.
Coroner Madeleine Wilson found Van Eldik had lit a cigarette and dropped it on his seat before looking down to find it and stop it from burning the seat.
By the time he looked up, traffic ahead had almost stopped.
His truck slammed into the back of the Barina, pushing it into another vehicle, which then hit a Honda. People in all three vehicles were injured.
The impact crushed the rear of the Barina up to the front seats, killing Maxwell, who was in the front passenger seat, and Janice, who was sitting in the back.
Van Eldik tested positive for methylamphetamine. His lawyer told the court he had used the drug two days earlier.
He was not charged with drug driving and Wilson said she was “unable” to determine whether the drug contributed to the crash.
Faults with the truck, road conditions and sun glare were also ruled out.
The couple had lived in Tasmania all their lives and had been married for 63 years.
They had three children and Maxwell had worked as a firefighter for 35 years.
Months before the crash, Maxwell had been told a heart condition would likely kill him within a month.
But on the day he died, his doctor told him the condition was not terminal and he could expect to live for “many more years”.
Van Eldik pleaded guilty to two counts of causing death by negligent driving.
The Hobart Magistrates Court sentenced him to five months in jail, wholly suspended for two years.
He also received a 12-month community correction order and a two-year driving ban.
“The deaths of Mr and Mrs Tonks was a tragic event which highlights the need for drivers to pay due care and attention to their surroundings while driving,” Wilson said.
