Supreme Court Justice Lex Lasry described what Brazilian national Nei Lima Da Costa had done in only a few seconds as a "massive tragedy".

"The motor vehicle has long been an intrinsic part of our lives but remains inherently dangerous when so dramatically misused," Justice Lasry told Lima Da Costa on Wednesday. "For you and these people, it is now a symbol of tragedy.

"This was no sudden lapse on your part.

"This catastrophe occurred after 14 kilometres of horrendously fast and reckless driving on your part."

Justice Lasry said the crash highlighted the extreme danger of the drug. "The drug known as 'ice' and its effects now represent a significant social problem. "It must be confronted by the community with an effective social strategy.

"Criminalising and punishing its manufacture and use is only a small part of the solution. People of your age and younger must be effectively persuaded of the risks in 'ice' use."

Pedestrian Tony Parsons, 45, was thrown more than 52 metres on impact after Lima Da Costa ran a red light and crashed into him as he walked across the intersection of Warrigal and Dandenong Roads in Oakleigh.

The light had been red for about 18 seconds when the accident happened and Lima Da Costa was estimated to have been travelling at speeds of up to 124km/h - more than 40km/h above the speed limit. Lima Da Costa, 30, then crashed into a Ford sedan, killing Savvas Menelaou, 67, and his wife of 38 years, Ismini, 59, while the couple's son, Menelaos, 35, and his uncle and aunt, Elias, 60, and Maria Mesaritis, 55, were all seriously injured.

They had been on their way home after attending the wedding of a family friend.

Lima Da Costa pleaded guilty to three counts of culpable driving causing death, three counts of negligently causing serious injury and one count of recklessly conduct endangering life on Sunday night, January 12.

Crown prosecutor Andrew Tinney, SC, described the case as "one of the most serious driving matters to ever come before a court in Victoria for sentence, if not the most serious". Mr Parsons' wife, Sue, had been walking a few metres behind her vision-impaired British civil servant husband after enjoying a night out celebrating their 10th wedding anniversary when he was hit.

She called out, 'Where's my husband, where's my husband?' after seeing Lima Da Costa's rental car slam into Mr Parsons and throw him high into the air. In her victim impact statement, Mrs Parsons said that after being directed to her husband's body she did not realise he was dead.  She kept tapping him on the arm and saying, "Come on honey, wake up and talk to me". Every bone in his body had been broken.

The Parsons had an unusual marriage as she lived in Melbourne and he lived in the United Kingdom because of his job but they would see each other regularly and talk on the phone every day.

"To us there was nothing strange about our marriage and our relationship - we loved each other and through circumstances could not live in the same country.

"I would ring Tony five days a week in the afternoon to wake him up to go to work and he would call me in the mornings to wake me up to go to work. The distance couldn't separate us.

"I can't enjoy life now without Tony. I just feel lost without him and I am very angry he died so unnecessarily."

Lima Da Costa, who suffered a broken collarbone in the crash, later claimed he had been driving at 80km/h when going home to see his wife and nine-week-old daughter. He was jailed for 16 years with a non-parole period of 11 years.

Outside court, Mrs Parsons said the sentence was not long enough.

Savvas and Ismini's son Jim Menelaou said no jail sentence would change what had happened or bring his parents back but it was time politicians did something about ice addicts.

"A lot of red tape prohibits the government or the courts from setting examples, setting a serious sentence," Mr Menelaou said.

He said no example to ice addicts had been set by the judge in this case.