Woman, 20, 'killed her sister in tragic coincidence when she smashed into her car as they both overtook lorry on busy road'

Adapted from DailyMail

A woman who killed another motorist when she pulled out of a traffic queue without looking later discovered the victim was her sister, a court heard yesterday.

Rosie-Ann Stone, 20, has gone on trial at Hull Crown Court in East Yorkshire accused of causing the death of her sister Jennie Stone by careless driving.

The incident began as Rosie-Ann’s Vauxhall Astra and Jennie’s Peugeot 206 were in a queue behind a slow-moving lorry on the A165, in East Yorkshire, between Hull and Bridlington, the jury was told.

Rosie-Ann allegedly pulled out of the queue to overtake the truck without looking behind, and did not see that her sister, who was further back in the line of traffic, had also pulled out to overtake.

The jury of six men and six women was told how witnesses saw both cars side-by-side at one point, leaving both vehicles scuffed. Soon after, Jennie hit a crash barrier and lost control while travelling at 'over 60mph', Mr Sharp said.

Jonathan Sharp, prosecuting, told the jury: ‘Her car veered back to the correct side of the road, in front of the lorry, and then it went off the road. There it ran into a tree at the roadside. 

‘The impact was very great and the car was badly damaged. Sadly, Jennie sustained multiple injuries and was killed. The young driver who pulled out without looking is the defendant, Rosie-Ann Stone.

‘It is right you know at the outset of this case that the other driver who died was, by tragic coincidence, the defendant’s elder sister, Jennie Stone.’

Rosie-Ann denies one charge of causing death by careless driving. She sat in the dock listening to the prosecution opening today watched by many members of her family in the public gallery.

The jury was told the incident happened on a single carriageway section of the A165 near the village of Fraisthorpe at about 9.15am on February 18 last year.

Mr Sharp said it happened on an exceptionally straight section of the road known as a good place to overtake speed-restricted lorries.

The prosecutor said the two sisters were travelling on the road in separate cars 'because Jennie had recently moved to Skipsea and Rosie-Ann had been helping her there'.

Mr Sharp said: 'The defendant, quite simply, had not looked behind her before she began her manoeuvre. If she had, she would have seen that the blue Peugeot being driven by her sister Jennie had also pulled out and had started an overtaking manoeuvre of her own.

'She was, quite lawfully, herself moving up the queue and intending to pass the lorry.'

He told the jury that an accident investigator found Rosie-Ann would have had a clear view of her sister's car if she had looked behind.

He said the defendant told police that she 'had pulled out to overtake, into the path of her sister'.

Mr Sharp said that in police interviews, Rosie-Ann 'admitted she did not check over her shoulder before pulling out and had not adjusted her door mirrors ever since she bought her car a month before.'

Timothy Snowden, who was driving a car in front, saw the collision in his rear view mirror.

He told the court: ‘In my mirror I saw the lorry and two cars abreast of each other. The Peugeot and the Astra then collided. I’m pretty sure of that. I could not see exactly which part of the cars struck.

'The collision did cause the car on the outside to hit the barrier. It went in front of the lorry then tried to straighten up and lost control and skidded.

‘It struck a tree. I stopped immediately and called an ambulance from my phone. I went back to the scene and gave assistance. It all happened extremely quickly.’

The case was adjourned until tomorrow morning.

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