Last year, Peter Buckley, 62, was found guilty by a jury of culpable driving causing the death of Mary Driver, 56, and charges of negligently causing serious injury to four other people.

Buckley suffered from blackouts and deja vu episodes which he failed to reveal in an appointment with a neurologist a month before the 60-tonne B-double he was driving collided with three cars stopped at roadworks on Portland-Nelson Road in March 2018.

He was jailed in August last year for 11 years and ordered to serve at least nine before being eligible for parole.

On Tuesday, Buckley's barrister Michael Turner applied for leave to appeal against the sentence.

Justice Stephen McLeish granted the appeal on two of the grounds put forward, including that the non-parole period was manifestly excessive.

Buckley has already served more than 500 days in custody.

The family of Mrs Driver last year told The Standard a much-anticipated holiday to Australia to celebrate her retirement was tragically cut short in the horror crash, leaving a gaping hole in the lives of her family and friends.

"She is a big part of our lives and she will be missed by so many," Mrs Driver's husband Marcel said.

IN OTHER NEWS:

Now just one tap with our new app: Digital subscribers now have the convenience of faster news, right at your fingertips with The Standard: