Despite the errant driving, police say 63-year-old Linda Christine Walsh’s inattention was the major factor behind the death of Jaydon Millar Tackney (21).
She has spent the week on trial after denying a charge of careless driving causing death.
Walsh was behind the wheel on November 25, 2019, waiting at the top of Viscount Rd turning right into Brighton Rd.
She had lived in the neighbourhood for 40 years, she told Detective Graeme Smaill in a police interview, and used the intersection almost every day.
The defendant allowed one car to pass, then proceeded.
In taking evasive action, Mr Tackney lost control of his Harley-Davidson, which toppled on to its right side and slid along Brighton Rd.
He collided with the front right of Walsh’s grey Toyota Corolla.
"One minute I was turning in and the next minute he was there in my face," Walsh said.
"I didn’t see him, he came out of nowhere."
Just minutes earlier, Mr Tackney had been driving along State Highway1, followed by a friend in a car.
Firefighter James Smith was driving his ute on the same stretch of motorway.
He said he was doing 100kmh and the two vehicles overtook him "at high speed".
"I couldn’t say how fast they were going but they couldn’t be going any faster," Mr Smith said in a statement.
The pair took the Green Island turnoff, and the witness said he thought nothing more of it until he was alerted to the crash through his employment.
Retired resident of Brighton Rd Gary Semple was at home having lunch with his wife when he heard the distinctive noise of the victim’s Harley-Davidson.
On the 30m stretch of road visible from his window, the man said he saw Mr Tackney make an illegal overtaking manoeuvre, estimating his speed to be between 70kmh and 80kmh in the 60kmh zone.
Mr Semple said there were a couple of Harley-Davidsons that regularly sped through the area but he was unable to confirm if the victim was one of them.
Walsh said, despite having her window down on the sunny day, she did not hear Mr Tackney approach.
"And that’s what I can’t understand. I know Harleys are quite distinctive sounding," she told police.
The defendant said she was "in hysterics" after the collision.
"When he hit me I got out of the car and he was lying on the ground on his side and he was moaning somewhat and I knelt down beside him and said ‘stay still, stay still, we’ll get someone here’," Walsh said.
Others worked to revive the biker.
"We were there for about 20 mins doing CPR on the poor bugger," she said.
Walsh complained there was a vehicle parked on the side of Brighton Rd that could have obscured her view of oncoming traffic from her right.
Six months after the incident, police filmed several "reconstructions", positioning vehicles where they would have been on the day to assess the visibility.
Det Smaill said, in conclusion, a reasonable and prudent driver should have inched into the intersection until they had a clear view in both directions.
He accepted, however, that the obstructive vehicle used in the police reconstructions was not the same make or model as the one parked there on the day.
"My hesitation is that we’re not comparing apples with apples," Judge David Robinson said.
Once the defence’s crash expert has finished giving evidence, the judge is expected to reserve his decision.
