An investigation report carried out into a crash that killed a popular north-east teacher concluded that driver negligence was the cause.
Truck driver Raymond Lamb is on trial at the High Court in Aberdeen accused of driving dangerously and killing mum-of-two Yvonne Lumsden in an accident just north of Ellon in 2019.
Mrs Lumsden was driving her husband and two daughters, aged four and six, home from a holiday in London when their car was struck by a trailer that had come loose from Lamb’s vehicle.
Pc William Wallace, a collision investigator and the most senior officer who attended the crash scene, said the tragedy could have been avoided if Lamb has used a safety handle to secure the trailer to his truck.
Mr Wallace said that the safety handle had not been “engaged” by Lamb prior to setting off.
“If he had just pushed the handle down Mrs Lumsden would have got home and none of us would be here today,” Mr Wallace told the jury.
Pc Wallace read out his reconstruction of the accident to the court.
He calculated that Lamb was travelling at nearly 10mph over the speed limit at the time of the tragedy, on July 12 2019.
He also said the trailer had decayed to such a degree that the collision left rust debris strewn all across the road.
He also denies driving without insurance and with faulty lamps and broken reflectors.
Lamb, of Barryfarm, Maud, denies all the charges against him.
Mr Wallace said that based on CCTV footage obtained from a nearby farm he calculated that Lamb was travelling at 59mph on the A948 Auchnagatt to Ellon road.
The speed limit for a vehicle towing a trailer is 50mph.
Mr Wallace told advocate depute Michelle Brannagan that he believed Lamb was rounding a bend when he hit a dip in the road, resulting in the trailer detaching from the truck and continuing into the opposing lane – and into the path of Mrs Lumsden’s white Volkswagen Polo.
As a result of the collision, Mrs Lumsden later died in hospital. Her husband Stuart and one of their two young daughters were also injured.
Mrs Lumsden, 35, taught at Stuartfield School, near Old Deer, and was described at the time of her death as a “dedicated” and “cherished” teacher who was “loved by pupils”.
The crash report also concluded that the brakes on the trailer “didn’t work” and that in Mr Wallace’s opinion he “didn’t think they had worked in a long time”.
He also claimed that a breakaway cable – a cable designed as the failsafe to apply the trailer’s brakes – had not been connected.
He concluded: “Collision investigators believe this collision was caused by the negligence of Raymond Lamb.”
Pc Wallace will face cross-examination by defence advocate David Moggach tomorrow.
The trial, before Judge Alistair Watson, continues.
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