Motorcyclist tried to avoid senior, trial told

A motorcyclist who struck a pedestrian on 17th Avenue S.W. nearly two years ago tried to avoid the collision with the 79-year-old man but speed prevented him from doing so, a witness testified on Tuesday.  

“He tried to move away, but he was going too fast and couldn’t (avoid the collision)” [the witness] told Crown prosecutor Frances Turner, through an interpreter.   [the witness], who was a passenger with a friend following behind two motorcycles on May 9, 2005, said the helmet of the biker who struck [the victim] near 10A Street then landed on their vehicle.  The witness said the victim stepped onto the street and had walked about one-quarter of the way across when he appeared to see the motorcycle coming at him and “was afraid.”
[the accused] is said to have struck [the victim] just before 9 p.m.

He and [another] each face one count of criminal negligence causing the death of the senior, who died 15 days later. Witnesses have said the motorcyclists were racing and driving anywhere from 60 to 100 km/h before the crash. [the witness] said he believed the bike that struck [the victim] was going about 80 to 100 km/hr but admitted under cross-examination by David Chow [the accused’s] lawyer, that the time from when the man  stepped onto the road until he was struck was “instantaneous.”

Earlier, city police Constable told Charlie Stewart, [the accused’s] counsel, that he did not order any measurements or photos to be taken at the scene, not did he request photos taken of the victim in hospital. [The constable] also said he did not check with a bar across the street to see if it had any surveillance video of the collision that could be used in the investigation.

The trial continues today. 

2007-03-28
Calgary Herald
By: Daryl Slade