Careless driving charge dismissed

Waimarino Bulletin, Volume 5, Issue 19, 6 October 1987, Page 4

Careless driving charge dismissed

The following defended case was heard by Judge E.W. Unwin in the Ohakune District Court on 24 September. Detective Sergeant Harry MalIalieu of Taihape appeared for the police. ★★★ Sandra May Bergesen, 23, farmhand of Ohakune, appeared on one charge of driving while not being the holder of an appropriate licence on SH49 on 20 February this year and on one charge of careless driving causing the death of Judith Hogan on the same date and at the same place. The first prosecution witness was conservation officer Dennis McDonnell, now of Pipiriki. He testified that on the evening of Friday 20 February he had been a front-seat passenger in a Landcruiser travelling east from Ohakune on SH49 at about 7.30pm on a beautifully fine summer evening. He explained that he was travelling towards Karioi in order to go pig-hunting when he saw a hay-baler parked on the opposite side of the road as he came round a bend about 2km out of Ohakune. He noticed the hay-baler because in his opinion it was parked too far out in the road: "about two-thirds on the seal

with the left-hand wheels on the metal shoulder of the road." In his opinion another vehicle travelling towards Ohakune would have to cross over the centre line in order to pass. As a foimer driver of heavy vehicles he commented on this fact at the time to the driver of the Landcruiser, constable John Fraser of Ohakune. The second prosecution witness was Trevor Hogan who was the driver of the Hillman Avenger in which his mother was a front-seat passenger on 20 February. He gave evidence that he had been travelling towards Ohakune from Karioi when, as he came round a corner, he suddenly "struck sunlight" directly ahead.

He was momentarily blinded by the sun and had to hold his hand up to shield his eyes. Because the setting sun was directly ahead and dazzling him, he slowed down and drove between the broken centre line of the road and the continuous white line at the edge of the road keeping the car half-way between the two. He did not see any obstruction on the road ahead. He said that he had owned the car he was driving for about two months but had held a driving licence for about four years. The third prosecution witness was police constable Brian Wilson of Ohakune who testified that he attended the scene of a motor accident about 2km east of Ohakune on 20 February and established that two vehicles - a Hillman

Avenger car and a hay-baler ("a hay stack cruiser) - had been involved. He established who the drivers of the two vehicles were and the fact that the front-seat passenger in the car was dead. He took and recorded measurements and marked the probable point of impact on the road from the amount of debris and a deep gouge he found on the road surface. At the time the sun was setting, the road surface was dry and visibility was good. Next day he retumed to the scene of the accident at the same time (7.30pm) to attempt to reconstruct how the accident might have happened. The weather conditions were cont'd on p.10