A Barrack Heights man has been found not guilty of of driving dangerously in the lead up to a fatal car crash at West Dapto after the presiding judge found the poorly designed road was partly to blame.
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Dylan Dahl was behind the wheel of a Honda Civic driving at speed along Cleveland Road in the early hours of December 2 when he lost control on a bend, causing the vehicle to hit a tree and burst into flames.
Dahl escaped the wreckage however his passenger, Jayke Robinson, could not be freed in time and perished in the fire.
Police charged Dahl was dangerous driving occasioning death, and a back-up charge of negligent driving occasioning death.
Dahl admitted to the negligence charge early on in court proceedings, however denied he’d acted dangerously.
During a District Court trial lasting more than a week, Judge Stephen Walsmley heard competing evidence from different expert road crash investigators on Dahl’s estimated speed as he approached the crest that gave way to the bend in the road where the crash occurred.
Judge Walmsley rejected evidence from a nearby homeowner that Dahl had been doing 140km/hr before the crash. – finding it was more likely 105km/hr.
Prosecutors argued Dahl had driven along the road at speed, in the opposite direction, about 10 minutes earlier and therefore knew the bend was coming up.
They argued a combination of Dahl’s high speed, the narrow road, the close proximity of trees and houses, and driving at night and on the wrong side of the road satisfied the legal definition of dangerous driving.
However, Dahl’s lawyers said their client had never travelled along that road before, and he had been ill-prepared for the bend in the road. They said the poor design of the roadway – as noted by experts who gave evidence in the trial – contributed to the tragic crash.
Judge Walmsley ultimately agreed with Dahl’s lawyers that the Crown had not proven beyond reasonable doubt that their client’s driving was dangerous.
He noted the road had no advisory signs warning drivers of the upcoming bend and said there was no evidence before the court that Dahl had ever travelled along that roadway before.
"There's no evidence before me that [Dahl] knew the speed limit on the road or that the curb was there; there have been no proven defects in the car put before me, but there were proven defects in the road,” he said.
"The poor design of the road is not a defence, but I see it as a circumstance I must take into account.”
Dahl will be sentenced on the negligent driving charge in February.
