A Halls Head mother will spend the next two months behind bars after a magistrate jailed her over the deaths of her twin daughters in a car crash last February deemed “unquestionably serious”.
Rachel Van Oyen, 32, was travelling on Great Eastern Highway in Carrabin when her Toyota Camry sedan veered off the road and crashed into a tree.
Rachel van Oyen with her twin daughters, Macey and Riley, who died in a crash last year.Credit: Facebook
The children were travelling to Perth with their mother after visiting family in Kalgoorlie for a wedding. They were all wearing seatbelts at the time of the crash.
Van Oyen was charged with two counts of careless driving causing death, grievous bodily harm or bodily harm.
On Wednesday, she sobbed through proceedings in Northam Magistrates Court where her lawyer Michael Ryan said there was no suggestion that fatigue or speed played a part in the incident and that Van Oyen had “done all the right things” by stopping for breaks during the long drive.
Rachel Van Oyen on her way into Northam Magistrates Court on Wednesday.Credit: Rebecca Peppiatt
“The circumstances around this incident is that Ms Van Oyen has closed her eyes for a second, not even a second, the vehicle has veered slightly, to the shoulder, she could see there was a roadside marker, her instinct was to veer to the right to avoid the collision with that marker,” he told the court.
“She’s applied too much right direction on that steering wheel, created a perfect situation when the vehicle has slid sideways.”
The court was told the car clipped a tree with a rear tyre before it landed on its roof. Both children were ejected from the car and died at the scene.
