"You bent to try and retrieve this and drifted to the left hand side of the road."
The car struck a ditch and rolled, throwing Ms Mareikura through the side passenger window and on to the road. She died at the scene.
Judge Barry said Sawkins had remained in contact with the family of Ms Mareikura since the crash.
The judge read from a victim impact statement written by a younger sister of Ms Mareikura, who said she had lost one of her best friends, which had "left a big hole in her life".
The writer said her sister was "someone who holds no grudges and would not seek retribution against you".
Judge Barry said the sister "speaks in a spirit of forgiveness and acknowledges the pain, both emotional and physical, that you have suffered".
Judge Barry said the consequence of the "loss of a precious life" was "far out of all proportion to the loss of concentration, but such is the nature of the motor vehicles we drive on the roads these days".
"Nothing that I can impose could ever even start to make up the loss of life that ensued; that is something that will live with you, and with the family [of Ms Mareikura] for the rest of their lives."
Outside court Carol Mareikura said Kizzy "never left me behind; this is the first time in my life that she has left me behind".
"I believe my older sister to be old enough to own her own life; from what I've heard, she should have had her seatbelt on, and there might have been different consequences," Ms Mareikura said.
She praised her sister's strength and ability "to suck it up and get on with it" after having suffered a stroke in her early 20s, which had restricted movement down her left-hand side.
Ms Mareikura's mother, also Shirley Mareikura, said she is glad the sentencing is over.
"I'm just . . . trying to pull it together, but I can't," Mrs Mareikura said.
She said some family members were still angry with the driver, but for her, "Daniel has already owned the guilt, and it's enough."
