Mother-of-four who failed to stop car at train tracks avoids jail time

A mother-of-four who failed to stop at train tracks near Taree on the NSW mid-north coast has avoided jail time.

New vision, from a camera mounted on the front of the 67-carriage train, captured the crash at Moorland in June last year.

A car can be seen slamming on the breaks and skidding into the path of the oncoming freight train with three children in the car.

The impact sent the car rolling down an embankment.

Vanessa Carlson, a 30-year-old mother-of-four, had simply failed to stop at the train crossing.

The single mum escaped unscathed from the crash, along with a five-year-old child.

But a seven-year-old child suffered horrific brain injuries and is now severely disabled.

A two-year-old was also critically injured.

While at court today, Judge Roy Ellis found the mother-of-four wasn’t speeding but was in pain from a wisdom tooth, felt tired, and was distracted by the children playing up, when she failed to stop at the railroad crossing.

"This particular crossing, in my view, was a dangerous crossing," Judge Roy Ellis said.

"Something needs to be done in terms of erecting warning lights or a boom gate, or some reduction in the height of the grass."

The judge decided against putting the mother behind bars, saying she had been “punishing herself every day since this accident."

“There are some cases that call for mercy," Judge Ellis said.

Carlson today received two suspended sentences for dangerous driving and was suspended from driving for five years.