Both families want to know why the truck driver – who was thought to be fatigued and had a prior dangerous driving record – was allowed on the road.

Fifty-one-year-old Withers truck driver Paul Stewart Kershaw was given an immediate prison sentence of five years in Bunbury District Court last Thursday.

Dalyellup man Albert De Beer, 42, had stopped to help Eaton resident David Tagliaferri, 44, change a tyre on Old Coast Road near Myalup on February 3 last year.

Kershaw’s prime mover ran over the white line at the edge of the road and fatally struck the men as they stood by their two cars.

After the court case came to an end last week, Mr Tagliaferri’s sister Lisa Sawyer said the sentence was fair but she said the state’s negligent trucking laws were “disgusting.”

“Our family would like to know why – why was (Kershaw) allowed to be driving when he was on anti-depressants known to make him drowsy and he had a previous record of a similar incident?” Ms Sawyer said.

Kershaw was charged with dangerous driving causing bodily harm in 2004 when his car struck a man jogging on a Bunbury road.

Ms Sawyer called on transport minister Troy Buswell to review the incident and figure out “how he is going to stop this tragedy happening to other families.”

A spokesperson for Mr Buswell said the minister had instructed Main Roads’ heavy vehicle section to investigate the operations of Kershaw’s former employer, Meeres Freightlines, particularly in regard to any vehicle crashes and its general safety record.

In sentencing, Judge Alan Fenbury said there was no explanation for why Kershaw had not seen the flashing hazard lights of the car before the crash.

Judge Fenbury told the court there was a need to deter other drivers from continuing to drive when fatigued, especially when operating heavy vehicles.

Kershaw will be eligible for parole after three years imprisonment and he was disqualified from obtaining a motor vehicle licence for 10 years.