Fatal accident trial-Day 2

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Crash investigator concluded that the accused was responsible for fatal crash
A POLICE accident investigator told a court that the driver of a van about to turn off a main road in Caithness should have seen an approaching motor cyclist, in time to avoid the fatal collision that occurred and was responsible for it.
Constable Neil Robinson's conclusion was at odds with a statement the van driver, Anthony Palmer, gave to police, that the motorbike suddenly appeared and that the collision was unavoidable.
Palmer, 57, denies driving carelessly and causing the death of offshore work Brent Larnach, 28, from Mid-Clyth, by not keeping a proper lookout and turning into his path.
Witnesses told the trial, previously, that Mr Larnach had been exceeding the 60mph speed limit, "well in excess", according to one witness. He died at the scene of the accident, at Borrowston, near the village of Thrumster, on April 28, last year.
Mr Larnach was travelling north and Palmer, a gas fitter, of 11 Malcolm Street, Wick, was coming from the opposite direction, intending to turn into the access road leading to the new house he was building for himself and his partner, Helen Spence,
She was a passenger in the van and was airlifted to hospital in Inverness with multiple pelvic injuries but survived, and is following the trial, at Wick Sheriff Court, now in its second day.
Constable Robinson said that taking account of witness statements, Mr. Larnach had failed to respond appropriately to the potential hazard of a vehicle waiting to turn right across the A99. However, the officer continued: "The motor cycle should have been visible to the driver of the van when he commenced his manoeuvre."
David Barclay, prosecuting, said: "The van driver should have seen the motorbike?"
Constable Robinson: "Yes".
Mr. Barclay:"Even if the motor cyclist was travelling in excess of the speed limit?"
"Yes" replied Constable Robinson, who added that the investigation had taken account of the various estimates of the motorbike's illegal speed.
He added:"While it is inappropriate for the motorbike to exceed the speed limit to the extent suggested by witnesses, it seems likely that the accused was responsible for this accident. The motorbike should have been visible to a careful and competent driver before he commenced his right turn".
Earlier, the jury heard of an interview, the police conducted with the accused. Palmer described the motorbike's speed as "well in excess " of the 60mph speed limit on the road and was "more than nipping on".
Palmer said he had observed all the mirror checks and was satisfied there was nothing approaching from the opposite direction when he began his turn. His view had gone from from nothing coming, to the bike "suddenly being on him". The accused estimated the time interval as being "milli-seconds".
Giving evidence, Palmer reiterated that he had made the usual mirror and visual checks before commencing his right-hand turn, having given the appropriate signal and was satisfied there was nothing coming.
Defence solicitor Miss MacDonald, said: “It has been suggested that you had adequate time to see the motorbike”.
Palmer replied: “No”.
He said that that the first he saw of Mr Brent’s bike - a Suzuki 1000cc sports model - was when it was between 100-120 metres away, coming over an undulation or rise in the road.
Palmer said: “I was committed to my turn by that time. There wasn’t much I could do. There was only a few seconds before the impact.”
The accused said that the fact the bike had covered the short distance from his first sighting of it, to the point of impact, in a matter of seconds, was an indication of its speed.
Palmer rejected the police crash investigators’ evidence that visibility south from the accident scene was 500 metres..
The accused said that there were undulations on the road that restricted vision.
and he had taken account of that during while checking for traffic.
Residents in the Borrowston area, told the court previously, of how they heard the motorbike approaching, from the south, revving its engine and repeatedly changing gears and then “an almighty bang”.
The trial

.