The failure of two motorists to back off and allow the other to get ahead on a merging lane resulted in a tragic crash that claimed one of their lives and injured two others.
"Either of those vehicles could have dropped back to allow the other to go ahead," a police expert told a trial into the death of David Armstrong yesterday.
"Neither driver yielded to each other ... neither applied the brakes to let either in front of them."
The other driver, 36-year-old Lucilla Linda Brunt, is accused of dangerous driving causing Armstrong's death in 2020.
Two motorists, Caron and Mark Lancaster, were seriously injured when Armstrong's car spun out of control and into their lane. The couple could not stop in time and collided with Armstrong's Nissan.
Friends and family of both Armstrong and Brunt attended the Wellington District Court yesterday for the start of the trial before Judge Mike Mika.
Prosecutor Grant Burston said the fatal crash occurred on November 14, 2020, near the intersection of Gibbons Street and SH2 in Upper Hutt.
At 10.55am, Brunt and Armstrong, who were both travelling south, headed through the intersection. Brunt was on the right and Armstrong on the left.
The court heard there was a merging lane around 100m after the intersection, but evidence collected by police showed neither driver fell back or merged like a zip.
They instead travelled around 400 metres, driving at approximately 103km/ph, side by side before disaster struck.
The front of Brunt's car collided with Armstrong's back right door and bumper, causing Armstrong's car to spin into the southbound lane and collide with the Lancaster's Toyota in the north bound lane.
In the Crown's opening statements, Burston said that while both cars were risking a collision, and Brunt had right of way due to her position in the right lane, she should have conceded in what another motorist described later as being a race or an act of road rage.
"(She) should have slowed down, backed off and let him in," Burston said.
Burston called on four witnesses to give evidence including three members of the public and Serious Crash Unit crash scene investigator, Senior Constable Lisa Toseland.
Toseland gave extensive evidence throughout the day, making reference to a list of variables that indicated the crash was preventable had one car slowed down and let the other pass.
Armstrong worked in the pest control industry and was said to be doing work for cash during the weekend. His partner told police he seemed to be in a rush and was anxious to be on time to the jobs he had promised.
She referred to her partner as a gentlemanly man with a strong work ethic and a love for his family.
One of the three witnesses to take the stand said the incident took long enough for her to watch in her rear vision mirror and know something was going to happen, "as neither vehicle was giving up".
"I had backed off because I knew this wasn't going to end well... I assumed they were racing or road raging over who was going to let the other in," another witness said in evidence.
Brunt's police statement from 2020 was read aloud to the court by Senior Constable Toseland, and outlined the incident from the accused's point of view.
She said she was shocked to see Armstrong's car come right up beside her. She said she felt boxed in and like she had nowhere to go due to the oncoming traffic, and asked her teenage daughter to film what was happening.
Toseland said there were a number of options available to Brunt at the time, including slowing down her vehicle, and this could have prevented the contact that occurred.
"A reasonable response is to remove your foot from the accelerator and slow down... but because of oncoming cars she may have not seen this as a viable option," Toseland said.
The hearing closed after lengthy evidence from Toseland, who will continue to testify this morning before being cross-examined by defence lawyer Michael Antunovic
Motorists are being warned to expect hazardous driving conditions.