Peter George Hopkins in court after horrific Bruce Hwy truck crash

A Kingaroy truck driver’s life changed forever when he crashed on the Bruce Hwy, but his catastrophic injuries were just the start of his terrible battle.

Peter George Hopkins suffered devastating injuries from a truck crash in 2022.

A Kingaroy truck driver’s life changed forever when he crashed his truck on the Bruce Hwy, and was left with traumatic injuries that would lead to more devastating news, changing the course of his life.

Peter George Hopkins, 50, appeared at Kingaroy Magistrates Court in his wheelchair on Friday, January 19, to plead guilty to one count of driving without due care and one count of making false entries in his log book.

Police prosecutor Barry Stevens said on the night of December 26, 2022, the 50-year-old was driving his B-double truck north on the Bruce Hwy at Cromarty, near Townsville, when he suddenly swerved into the barrier and crashed into a creek.

“The vehicle has veered off the western side of the road hitting a guard rail … then crashed into the Mackenzie Creek,” Sergeant Stevens said.

The court heard police investigated the diary in the vehicle which contains the entries of all regulated fatigue breaks.

After the investigation, the police concluded Hopkins had only stopped once for 17 minutes in about 12 hours, despite logging three mandatory breaks in the log book, the court heard.

Hopkins lawyer, Mark Werner, said Hopkins wasn’t sure why the accident happened and was unable to explain it.

“He lost his job over this incident, he also previously worked as a security guard but because of his injuries he’s unable to pursue that either.”

Peter George Hopkins suffered devastating injuries from a truck crash in 2022.

The crash was so serious, Hopkins was in hospital for three months, Mr Werner said.

The accident left him with crush injuries on both lower legs, a fractured sternum, two fractured ribs, five cracked vertebra, a head laceration requiring 27 staples, kidney damage and the loss of six teeth.

“He had to undergo stomach surgery for a haematoma and unfortunately the blood tests around that confirmed that he had multiple myeloma cancer which is in the end of stage three so his prognosis is terminal,” Mr Werner said.

The court heard Hopkins had a “good” driving record over 25 years and had no criminal history.

Magistrate Andrew Sinclair took Hopkins’ record and injuries into account when making his judgement.

“You do have a very good driving record for a professional driver, unlike tradies that appear in here, you don’t get several speeding tickets a year.

“The person who suffered the most was yourself out of this accident,” Mr Sinclair said.

Hopkins was fined $425 and a conviction was recorded.