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John Cowpland / Stuff
Jacqueline Watson was dismissed Thursday on a careless driving charge that resulted in her death.
The charge against a woman who was tried for reckless driving that caused the death of a motorcyclist by speeding has been dismissed.
Kurtus Scott, 24, was speeding south on Kennedy Road, Napier, on the night of August 12 last year when he collided with the car driven by Jacqueline Watson, 25, who was making a U-turn.
Scott’s Hyosung bike collided with his Honda Integra right in front of the driver’s door. He was thrown a short distance away and died at the scene.
Watson had been in a laundromat with his partner and their young daughter. He reversed from an angled parking lot, drove forward, heading south, for about 25 meters on Kennedy Road, then turned right, crossed the terrain to the south and entered the north lane.
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She didn’t see Scott running toward her from behind. The collision occurred in the north lane, after Watson’s car crossed the center line.
A one-judge trial before Judge Geoff Rea in Napier District Court on Thursday heard from police and defense experts.
Kennedy Road, Napier, where Kurtus Scott died while riding his motorcycle on the night of August 12, 2019.
They agreed on several points. Scott was definitely speeding, had accelerated rapidly from a stoplight and was traveling over 100 km / h in the 50 km / h zone when the accident occurred.
It was night but the conditions, the lighting and the road were good. Multiple CCTV cameras captured both vehicles in the seconds immediately preceding the collision, but not the collision itself.
The police case was that Watson failed to take adequate steps to check behind her before making the U-turn.
In a police interview recorded months after the accident, a tearful Watson recounted looking in all her mirrors and over her shoulder to make sure there was no traffic near her and using her indicator.
She saw the lights of two cars in the distance, but not the one on Scott’s motorcycle, which was closer and was rapidly approaching her.
Stuff
Watson was tried before Judge Geoff Rea in Napier District Court.
He recalled that the bicycle hit the car and said he passed out when his car crossed the street and hit a building.
He sobbed as he said to the detective: “If you can let the family know that I am very sorry and convey my condolences.”
The court also heard that Scott’s motorcycle had been involved in numerous police chases.
Accident defense expert investigator Paul Bass said that if Scott had been traveling at the speed limit, he would not have hit the car.
In closing the police case in the one-day trial, prosecutor Dean Goodall said that Watson’s actions amounted to carelessness because she did not do enough checks.
He accepted that Scott’s actions contributed to the accident, but Watson was still at fault.
Watson’s attorney, Eric Forster, agreed that caution should be exercised when making a U-turn, but “who could anticipate a vehicle going 100 km / h on the wrong side of the road?”
Judge Rea said he had formed “a very strong opinion on what the outcome should be” and dismissed the charge. Their reasons will be provided at a later date, he said.
