1/3/09 (UK):
Expert Tells Jury Vehicle Was Travelling Slowly
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The jury in the trial of a Newport man accused of causing death by dangerous driving has heard marks where his car left a track indicated the car had been travelling "relatively slowly".
Marc Steven Vacara, 20, of Monnow Way, Bettws, denies he was driving dangerously when his car crashed near the sea wall in Redwick, near Magor.
His friend Jamie Linton, 22, from Newport, was a passenger in the car and drowned after Vacara's Vauxhall Corsa careered off a track and landed on its roof in a stream on May 16, 2008.
Jonathan Stubbs, a former policeman who is an expert in collision investigation, told the jury at Cardiff crown court the car had travelled one and half car lengths from where it fell from the grass verge to where it settled in the water, which he described as "not a great distance" and said indicated the car was travelling slowly.
He could not give an estimate of what speed the car had been travelling at when Vacara crashed.
Mr Stubbs said some of the pot holes near the scene of the crash were as deep as seven inches and damage to the front left hand wheel and tyre was consistent with hitting a pot hole.
When asked what sort of speed the car would have had to have been travelling at to cause the damage, Mr Stubbs said the damage could have been caused at as slow as 10mph.
The court heard there was no evidence of the car braking, which would be expected to have left skid marks on the grass verge.
Mr Stubbs was asked by Timothy Evans, prosecuting, about evidence given earlier in the trial by three female passengers who were in the car and told the jury their heads were hitting the roof as they travelled along the track.
They claim they were fearful something would happen because Vacara was driving so fast.
Mr Stubbs said their evidence appeared to be incompatible with his findings at the scene, which he told the court indicated the speed of the car was "relatively low".
He referred to evidence given in court on Thursday by Craig Dobbs, 19, who was sitting in the front passenger seat during the crash and said he had not heard any complaints from the other passengers and was not aware of anyone hitting their heads.
Mr Stubbs told the jury: "I heard Mr Dobbs give a contrary opinion. Clearly there is a difference here. A difference between the accounts given and what I know from the physical evidence."
© X-Pro 2009
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