A woman accused of causing a pensioner’s death by driving dangerously while holding a mobile phone started “gliding” onto the other side of the road before the crash, a court has heard.
Anna-Marie Strachan allegedly caused the head-on collision which left James Thomson with such serious injuries he died in hospital the following day.
Mr Thomson’s wife was also injured, as well as two young children who were travelling in Strachan’s Peugeot 308.
Jacqueline Kelly, 49, told the High Court in Aberdeen that she was travelling behind the blue car on the A90 Peterhead to Fraserburgh road before the accident.
She said: “As I was going along, there was a change in the car in front of me. It sort of very slowly started gliding on to the other side of the road.
“I remember just thinking “where’s that car going?’ then there was the impact.”
Advocate depute, Stewart Ronnie, asked: “Did you see any brake lights being applied?”
She replied: “Not that I can remember.”
Mrs Kelly said she could see no reason for the car in front of her to drift on to the other carriageway.
Strachan, 29, of Fraserburgh, denies causing Mr Thomson’s death and injuring the other casualties by driving dangerously after taking prescription drugs and holding her mobile phone.
The collision happened near Rathen in Aberdeenshire.
Mr Thomson, of Fraserburgh, suffered fractures on his right leg and died as a result of injuries sustained in the collision. His 71-year-old wife had bilateral rib fractures and the seven-year-old girl, travelling in the Peugeot, was found to have a small laceration on her spleen and fractured ribs.
A two-year-old boy was also injured.
Strachan, of Glover Close, Fraserburgh, suffered a hip and ankle fracture and was admitted to Aberdeen Royal Infirmary.
The court was told there was no record of Strachan having made or received a phone call or text message on her phone when the crash happened.
The trial continues today.
