A P-Plater who caused the death of an Albion Park Rail postie has been spared jail and instead ordered to serve 250 hours' community service.Elise Monique Pullen was on her way to work at Woolworths in Shellharbour on August 6, 2007, when the white hatchback she was driving hit the back of a postal bike ridden by Sue Cramp.The collision occurred about 5.40am on Industrial Rd, Oak Flats, as Mrs Cramp was waiting to make a right turn. Mrs Cramp, 55, died on her way to hospital.Pullen, of Koona St, Albion Park Rail, had been driving for less than a year. In Wollongong Local Court yesterday Magistrate Brian Maloney handed down the sentence, after Pullen, 23, pleaded guilty at a previous hearing to a charge of negligent driving occasioning death.He disqualified Pullen from driving for three years and imposed the community service order as "a direct alternative to jail".Before passing sentence, Mr Maloney took into account a psychological report which said Pullen was suffering from feelings of guilt and symptoms consistent with post-traumatic stress disorder. "This offence is one of the saddest to be committed and I say sad because there's no intent to cause the harm that's actually caused," he said. "By virtue of momentary inattention, the failure to drive a motor vehicle with due care and diligence has had a catastrophic effect on so many people. "Whatever I do in some respects is going to be inadequate and that's unfortunate. But there has to be some humanity in the sentencing process. "Your life has been changed forever. It will never be the same. And, dare I say it, there but for the grace of God goes all of us when we get behind the wheel of a car."Speaking after the sentencing, Mrs Cramp's son, Michael, said he had a message to drivers. "You've got to remember at all times to be careful and vigilant because the consequences (if you're not) can be catastrophic," he said.