US servicewoman 'didn't see' Brit motorcyclist before hitting him in fatal crash
A US servicewoman killed a motorcyclist on her drive home from work after she "didn't see" him while pulling out of a junction, a court heard.
Airforce rank Mikayla Hayes, 25, was heard by a witness saying she didn't see him after the crash that killed 33-year-old Matthew Day on August 26 last year, Norwich Crown Court heard. Hayes had been travelling from RAF Lakenheath in Suffolk to her home in Downham Market in Norfolk.
Rachel Scott, prosecuting, said the father-of-one was travelling south on the A10, on a Yamaha motorbike, when he collided with Ms Hayes's Honda Accord. He died of his injuries later that day but Hayes denies causing death by careless driving. Ms Scott told the court the collision happened just before 4pm and driving conditions were good. She said traffic was "fairly heavy which was normal for that time of afternoon on a Friday." The prosecutor said that Hayes pulled into the path of the motorbike as it approached and Mr Day was "thrown into the air and landed in the mouth of the Lynn Road junction." She said a witness who was driving in front of Mr Day said the motorcyclist was matching her speed, which was "well under 60mph."
Ms Scott told the court a second witness, an experienced motorcyclist who was waiting behind Hayes at the junction in Lynn Road, said he "saw her head turning from side to side" as she waited. The witness said he saw Mr Day's motorbike approaching and saw Hayes drive forward and collide with Mr Day's motorbike. Another witness, who was on his way home from work when he saw the aftermath of the collision and stopped, said Hayes "kept saying 'I didn't see him"', said Ms Scott.
The prosecutor said the witness reported that Hayes "said 'I stopped, looked both ways, pulled out and didn't see him"'. In an interview with police, she said she was driving home from work taking her "normal route home." Ms Scott said: "She said she looked both ways and saw a clear passageway both left and right, looked again to make sure it was clear then pulled out."
Matthew Day, 33, who died of his injuries (PA)The defendant reported that she saw Mr Day's motorbike when she was "at the halfway point of her turn", Ms Scott said, and he hit her car. Ms Scott told the court Hayes said the colour of the motorbike - red and white - "appeared to blend into the road and sky". Both vehicles were examined and no faults were found that would have contributed to the collision. Hayes was breathalysed and drugs tested and the results were both negative and there was no evidence she was using her phone, Ms Scott told the court.
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She said tests on Mr Day found a "low concentration of THC", indicating he had taken cannabis at some point before the collision. But she said: "The evidence doesn't suggest he failed to react appropriately when Miss Hayes pulled out in front of him." She said that the defence and prosecution agree that "nothing about the road, the weather or the driving conditions was a factor."
She continued: "They also agree that the main cause of the collision was Miss Hayes pulling out from a side road into the path of a motorbike that had priority." She said that experts disagree about how many seconds there were between Hayes pulling out and the collision, and how many seconds Mr Day had to react.
Ms Scott told the court: "The issue at the heart of this case is whether the defendant's driving fell below the standard expected of a careful and competent driver. The prosecution case is there's no good reason why Miss Hayes didn't see Mr Day's motorbike." The trial continues.
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