An eyewitness to a fatal collision near Red Deer described the scene as “chaos” at the trial Monday for a woman facing drunk driving charges.
Before the trial began, Bobbi Crotty tearfully pleaded not guilty to one charge of impaired driving causing death and to three charges of impaired driving causing bodily harm in connection with the three-car collision just west of Red Deer on Aug. 5 last year.
Crotty was charged after her westbound Dodge Nitro on Hwy 11A collided with an eastbound Mitsubishi Lancer around 11 p.m. A 36-year-old woman riding as a passenger in the eastbound vehicle died from her injuries.
Eyewitness Joan Rogers said she was passed by Crotty’s vehicle just west of Red Deer around where the two westbound lanes became a single lane. At one point, Crotty’s vehicle and another were side by side as the road became one.
Rogers said the vehicle next to Crotty’s was “a little” over the line and encroaching into Crotty’s lane.
“I don’t think the lady in the red car knew the lane merged,” said Rogers, referring to the vehicle next to Crotty’s.
Crotty’s vehicle then moved left and hit the eastbound vehicle, she testified. A third vehicle also got caught up in the collision.
RCMP Cpl. Brandon Smith arrived shortly after midnight to what was clearly the scene of a serious collision.
“There was wreckage all over the place,” he testified.
Smith said he approached and crouched down next to Crotty, who was sitting in a southbound ditch, where her vehicle ended up.
Smith said he smelled alcohol on Crotty’s breath and she had said she had two or three drinks. He gave her a breathalyzer test in his police vehicle, which she failed. He accompanied her when she was taken by ambulance to Red Deer Regional Hospital Centre.
RCMP forensic collision reconstructionist Cpl. James Laronde took dozens of photos and measurements at the scene shortly after the collision and later in the day.
Laronde said that based on his investigation, Crotty’s vehicle continued going straight on Hwy 11A even though the lane was ending up ahead and required merging.
A warning signpost knocked off the passenger side mirror before the vehicle collided with the eastbound vehicle. Crotty’s small SUV rolled once landing back on its wheels.
The eastbound vehicle was bounced into the westbound lanes where it hit another vehicle.
Laronde also was able to access air bag control module information from Crotty’s vehicle and the other westbound vehicle. The data was not available from the eastbound vehicle.
The air bag monitor data showed that Crotty’s vehicle was travelling about 75 km/h in a 70 km/h zone around five seconds before the collision.
The trial continues on Tuesday.