As the 24-year-old pulled out from Baranduda Drive onto Kiewa Valley Highway, her Holden Commodore collided with a Mercedes which had been obscured by a turning truck.

Two days after the Baranduda crash on March 21, the passenger of the Mercedes – 80-year-old Edith Litschke – died in hospital.

Perrin appeared in Wodonga Magistrates’ Court to plead guilty to failing to give way and driving an unroadworthy car with bald tyres.

The police report stated Mrs Litschke died from heart failure caused by injuries to her spinal cord.

But magistrate John O’Callaghan said it was not his role to make any judgement about the cause of death before the coroner’s investigation was complete.

“The mistake is looking at the consequences of the act, that is not what I'm here to do today,” Mr O’Callaghan said.

The court heard the crash occurred when the Mercedes was travelling between 60 and 80 kilometres per hour.

Perrin told police she looked four times before turning. “I didn't see the other car, it must have been behind the truck,” she said.

Mr O’Callaghan said Perrin would have had the “fright of her life” when she realised she was in an unavoidable situation.

“It was an error of judgement, an error anyone could have made,” he said.

In a victim impact statement read to the court, Karl Litschke, who had been driving the Mercedes, said he also suffered chest pain and shoulder damage in the crash.

But it was the loss of his wife of 60 years, who he was happily retired with in Wodonga, which still pained him.

“I feel haunted by the horrific images of that day, of her lying by the side of the road, of her trying to be resuscitated,” he said.

“My wife was a vibrant, lovely person who made friends everywhere she went.

“Since the accident, my life has been turned upside down.”

Barrister Sally Wilson said Perrin was a mother of two young children, trying to make a life for herself.

“My client isn’t for a moment trying to minimise the impact on this family,” she said.

Mr O’Callaghan said the effect on Perrin was obvious and he fined her $1000.

“The consequences of what happened to you will be a lesson for others,” he told Perrin.