The minibus driver accused of killing five people on the A96 was braking sharply and driving onto the wrong side of the carriageway while taking bends before the collision, a witness has told a court.
Mary Thomson, 53, was driving back to Fochabers from Aberdeen with her mother when she found herself behind a white minibus that appeared to be full.
The eyewitness, who was travelling behind the driver Alfredo Ciociola, said he would go onto the opposite side of the road before returning to the left side.
She was giving evidence at the trial of Ciociola, who has denied causing the deaths of five people on the A96 during the evening of July 26 2018.
Advocate depute Derick Nelson asked Miss Thomson at the High Court in Edinburgh if there was anything that had given her cause for concern about the driving of the minibus during the journey.
She said: “He would go across the white line and the white line would be underneath the vehicle. He would travel with the white line underneath the vehicle.”
Miss Thomson agreed that there were occasions on bends when it was partly on the wrong carriageway, but also occasions when it was on the wrong side altogether.
She said: “Because he was over the road I didn’t want to try to overtake him.”
She later passed the minibus at the end of an overtaking lane on a stretch of road between Huntly and Keith.
Ciociola, 50, has pleaded not guilty to a single charge of causing death and serious injury by dangerous driving between Inverurie and Keith and on the Huntly to Keith road near the Drummuir junction.
‘He veered too much into the bend’
The Italian national is alleged to have failed to pay proper attention to the road ahead, fallen asleep and repeatedly braked and drove into the opposing carriageway before colliding with a car driven by Morag Smith.
Three passengers in her car, Audrey Appleby, Edward Reid and Evalyn Collie died.
Frances Saliba, 63, who was a passenger in the Fiat Talento driven by Ciociola, also died along with one of his sons Lorenzo, aged four.
Mrs Saliba’s husband Francesco Patane, who was a passenger in the minibus, told the jury last week how they had all arrived from Italy earlier that day for a touring holiday and were on their way to Inverness when the tragedy happened.
Miss Thomson’s mother, Mary Thomson, 75, said: “He seemed to take some of the bends okay and then one or two bends he veered too much into the bend.
“We speculated he was either falling asleep or too much alcohol. I kept wondering why he didn’t stop and have a rest and he didn’t”.
The trial before Lord Mulholland continues.
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