Going Too Slow Accident Prosecution

[aussiblue]

Will be interesting to see how this pans out:
http://www.abc.net.au/news/2015-01-1...960?section=wa

Driver's frustration over tailgating led to death of teenager Jesse Phillis, court hears
By Joanna Menagh

Posted yesterday at 3:34pmMon 19 Jan 2015, 3:34pm

A driver's frustration about being tailgated led to a crash which killed a teenager, a Perth court has been told.

Robert David Allan and Blair James Annandale, are on trial in the District Court in Perth accused of dangerous driving causing the death of Jesse Phillis in Mundijong in June 2013.

The 17-year-old was a passenger in a red Suzuki Swift being driven by his girlfriend behind Allan's white utility.

It is alleged Allan deliberately decelerated his vehicle from 70 kilometres per hour to 40, because he was frustrated about being tailgated.

The red car was then hit in the rear by a green Holden Commodore and pushed into the path of a four-wheel-drive travelling in the opposite direction.

Mr Annandale was the driver of the green car and is accused of dangerous driving causing death by failing to pay proper attention.

In an opening address to the jury, prosecutor Nick Cogin said it was the state's case that Allan took his foot off the accelerator "for no other reason than his frustration" about being tailgated.

"That caused a chain reaction," he said.

"His driving created a dangerous situation. He put the red [car] and the green [car] in danger by his driving.

"There was absolutely no reason to slow his vehicle at that point."

Defendant blames sneeze for slowdown

The court heard Allan later told police he slowed down because he needed to sneeze, but Mr Cogin said the evidence did not support the proposition that he was acting in "an extraordinary emergency".

Mr Cogin said it was alleged Annandale was "travelling too close to the red car because he didn't avoid the collision".

"He was not paying proper attention to the road, to avoid the collision," he said.

The court heard Annandale told police he hit the red car because he could not stop because he was too close behind.

"The state says he was too close because he wasn't paying proper attention," Mr Cogin said.

He said there was no suggestion the red car was driving dangerously.

"The red car did not collide with Mr Allan's car, it did not hit anything until it was spun in to the path of the four wheel drive," Mr Cogin said.

Allan's lawyer John Hawkins described the case as tragic, saying his client "has been living a nightmare" since the crash.

But he said the evidence about his client "braking" had concluded that it was "no more than moderate".

"The red car didn't have any collision with the white van, even though it was driving quite close to it," he said.

Annandale's lawyer Tom Percy QC said his client maintained his driving was not dangerous.

"Mr Annandale's case is that he was, at the relevant time, travelling at an appropriate distance from the car in front," he said.

"If it had not been for the unanticipated heavy braking of the cars in front... no accident would have occurred.

"We say the accident and the tragic death of Jesse Phillis is the result of a combination of factors, on the part of other people, none of which can be attributed to Blair Annandale or his manner of driving."

The trial is expected to end next week.