A driver who was responsible for a horrific highway collision that resulted in a two-year-old girl’s death entered a guilty plea while appearing in court from his bed.
Just before Christmas of last year, Matt Livingston, 42, of Donald, crashed his 42-tonne semi-trailer on the Calder Freeway in Victoria, damaging three vehicles.
The young child, a native of Melbourne’s south-east suburb of Caulfield South, was riding in the backseat of her family’s Volkswagen SUV.
Her parents and baby sister were also seriously injured in the crash, which was captured on dash cam by another motorist travelling behind.
Livingston made a videolink appearance in the Melbourne Magistrates’ Court on Friday.
Two teddy bears and other memorabilia could be seen hanging off the bed head along with the person, who was wearing a grey sweatshirt.
On December 7, over a year after his young victim was killed as a result of his reckless driving, Livingston will enter a plea in the County Court of Victoria, where he will be sentenced to prison time and a mattress full of mold.
Livingston has entered pleas of guilty to more than a dozen crimes, including reckless driving that resulted in death, negligence that resulted in serious harm, and behavior that put serious injury at risk.
Additionally, he admitted to falsifying his truck driver’s log book and skipping out on necessary rest breaks in addition to failing to update it.
Victoria has a 20-year maximum prison term for driving while intoxicated.
Up until his December plea, Livingston is free on bail and allowed to remain in the community.
It was discovered after the collision that the 42-year-old was an enthusiastic driver who frequently commented on social media about how much he loved his work.
Just three months prior to the disaster, in September, he posted a picture of his semi-trailer at sunset on Facebook with the message “livin’ the dream.”
Livingston’s profile was filled with photos taken from behind the wheel of his truck – most of which include gifs with hearts, comments about his love for truck driving, and endearing messages from friends and family.
The horrific crash shocked the nation just weeks out of Christmas last year.
Jarrod Bell of Victoria’s State Emergency Service said it was a ‘confronting’ scene to attend.
‘Six vehicles and five people trapped, this is one of the largest and most complex calls I have attended in a decade,’ he said.
‘Any incident involving a child is challenging but when we are dealing with the death of a two-year-old that breaks my heart. This call is something that will sit with us for quite a while.’
Police were investigating several factors around the circumstances of the crash.
‘We are too early in the investigation to come up with those answers – whether there is involvement of excessive speeding or drugs, or anything like that,’ Detective Sergeant Mark Amos said at the time.
‘It is simple physics why this happened and if people don’t show some responsibility and respect it, then this will continue… and other families are going to have the single worst Christmas of their lives.’
Distressing images showed grain and debris strewn across the highway, which was closed when emergency services arrived on the scene.
Onlookers said the wreckage was the worst they had ever seen.
‘Drove past this just after it happened and I felt sick to my stomach. Terrible,’ one woman wrote on Facebook.
Others who were stuck in traffic as a result said they broke down when they saw the tragedy on the news.
The fronting dashcam footage showed the moment the truck ploughed into several vehicles entering a 40km/h roadwork zone.
A car in front of the semi-trailer appeared to swerve into the right-side lane, prompting the truck to do the same.
But the truck crashed into the back of a vehicle and a massive multi-car collision followed, ending with the semi-trailer toppling over.
‘This is a catastrophe, this is an absolute disaster,’ Detective Amos said at the time.
‘It’s monumentally frustrating to see this sort of stuff… take your time, slow down, look after each other.’
Aerial images showed the large truck on its side with the grain covering much of the road.
Debris from other cars was also strewn across the freeway including a vehicle that was towing a boat.