Biker ‘braked’ as RAF Lakenheath US Servicewoman pulled out in fatal crash
Motorcyclist Matthew Day died after a crash with a car in the village of Southery, Norfolk A motorcyclist seemed to brake before he hit a US servicewoman’s car when she pulled out in front of him in a fatal collision, a court heard. Airman first class Mikayla Hayes, 25, was driving home from RAF Lakenheath in Suffolk to Downham Market in Norfolk on 26 August 2022 when Matthew Day, 33, collided with her car.
A witness told the jury he saw Ms Hayes pull out and the motorcyclist brake. Ms Hayes denies causing death by careless driving. Mr Day, a father-of-one, was travelling south on the A10 on a red-and-white Yamaha and collided with the defendant’s maroon-coloured Honda Accord and died the same day.
Witness Graeme Pratt told Norwich Crown Court how Ms Hayes pulled out to turn right onto the A10 from the B1160 junction at Southery, Norfolk, when Mr Day was “10 to 15 metres” (32.8 -49.2 ft) away. Mr Pratt was riding his motorbike behind Ms Hayes’s Honda and said it had been driven “normally” and he saw the driver “looking both ways”. He said the motorbike was behind a car which turned left at the junction and he felt there would be room for himself and Ms Hayes to pull out – once Mr Day had passed.
“I recall the Honda moving forward. I stayed where I was – I looked up and I could see the Honda pulling out and the motorcycle still travelling down the A10,” he told the court. Mr Pratt said the front of the bike appeared to dip as the Honda moved forward, which he thought was consistent with the biker pulling the front brake.
He said he shouted ‘no’ in his helmet as he saw the Honda move forward. “I was shouting ‘no’ to the woman to stop, I could see what was going to happen, ” he said. The Honda showed “no urgency to fly across the road” and Mr Pratt saw the motorcycle hit the side of the car and the rider was thrown into the air, the court heard.
The court previously heard Mr Day had a “low concentration of THC (tetrahydrocannabinol)”, indicating he took cannabis at some point before the collision. Story continues However, there was no evidence he failed to react appropriately when Ms Hayes pulled out in front of him.
In a statement read by the prosecutor Mr Day’s partner, Jenny Smith described him as a “good rider” and not a risk taker. She was aware he was a “casual user” of cannabis but did not know when he last smoked the drug. Witness Leona Palmer said Mr Day’s motorbike had been behind her on the A10 before she turned off and she did not think their speed had reached 60mph due to traffic.
A paramedic from the East of England Ambulance Service told the court he feared Mr Day was of the verge of cardiac arrest and started CPR. He said he spoke to the defendant and she said: “I don’t know what happened. I didn’t see him, there was just a loud bang.”The trial continues.
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