Families describe agony of losing teens in car crash at Winslow

A 19-year-old Mailors Flat woman and a 16-year-old Warrnambool boy died after the Toyota Camry they were passengers in hit a tree at Winslow on August 26 last year.

The then 17-year-old driver appeared in a court on Friday.

In victim impact statements, the teen boy's family told of the intense heart-break experienced by his mother who didn't see her son's text asking for a lift home and his sisters who found themselves just 300 metres from the crash that claimed their brother's life.

His sister told the court she was just 18 when she found herself on the side of the road on the phone to her mum who had just heard police knock at the front door.

She said it was in that moment she learnt she was sitting just metres from where her little brother was lying dead in the back of a car.

The boy's mum said it had been 54 weeks since she answered the door to two police officers whose words were etched into her brain as clearly as if she'd answered the door that morning.

"Our son was dead and our world turned on itself in that instant," she said.

The mother said her heart was destroyed and she struggled with the fact she couldn't forgive the offender.

Her son's future was taken from him and from her, she told the court.

"I watched (his) school friend's get dressed and head to their school formal this year and realised I never got to see (him) wear a suit," she said.

"My tears flowed that night."

The boy's father said he now had to move through the rest of his life with a "massive gap".

"Not only did I lose but I truly believe the world lost that day," he said.

The mother of the Mailors Flat woman told the court their family was unable to say goodbye due to her daughter's injuries and that hurt "like a knife in the heart".

Major Collision Investigation Unit detectives charged the now 18-year-old with two counts of dangerous driving causing death in April.

The court heard it was unknown why the trio were travelling through Winslow at the time of the fatal crash.

The offender was driving the female passenger's car on a gravel road when she lost control and collided head-on with a tree at 3.45pm.

She held a learner's permit, did not have a supervising driver with her and was believed to have been driving between 79 and 100 km/h.

The victims suffered catastrophic injuries and died at the scene.

The driver was airlifted to hospital and placed in an induced coma. She suffered significant lower body injuries requiring multiple surgeries.

A lawyer said the offender was struggling with guilt and painful emotions, and had expressed great remorse to the victims and their families.

He said she told a medical practitioner she wished it was her and not them who had died.

A magistrate told the court it was an "extraordinarily difficult case" and there were no winners.

He said families had been ripped apart and were left absolutely broken.

He said that on a plea of guilty he would impose a youth control order, which would see the offender serve her sentence in the community rather than in custody.

The magistrate said the most significant penalty of all was the offender living with the reality of two young lives being taken "far too early".

"That will be on her conscience and on her mind for the rest of her life and that is a very powerful reminder of the need for great care and attention whilst driving, particularly in regional communities."

The sentence indication was accepted and pleas of guilty entered.

The woman will be assessed for the order and will appear in court again in October.

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