A DRIVER has accepted being responsible for the death of an elderly motorcyclist who was killed when she made a right turn into his path as he was riding along the Fosse Way.
But it will be for a jury to decide whether the manoeuvre by Susan Dancer, who says she did not see 75-year-old Timothy Ramsay’s motorbike approaching, was a dangerous or careless act.
The 36-year-old, of Dancers Drive, Loxley, pleaded not guilty at Warwick Crown Court to causing the death of Mr Ramsay by dangerous driving.
But her barrister Daniel Oscroft indicated: “She accepts that she is responsible for causing the death of Mr Ramsay, but by driving carelessly.”
He said she would plead guilty to a charge of causing death by careless driving – but prosecutor Talbir Singh asked for the case to be adjourned for a trial on the more serious offence.
The charge follows a tragic collision on the B4455 Fosse Way at the crossroads junction with Brook Lane and Moreton Morrell Lane at 9.45am on August 11 last year.
Mr Ramsay, from Leamington, was riding his Suzuki motorbike towards the junction when Dancer, driving a Citroen Relay van in the opposite direction, made a right turn into his path.
There was a collision in which Mr Ramsay suffered injuries from which he died in hospital later the same day.
Mr Singh pointed out the trial, which it is expected will last for three days, and is likely to involve evidence from accident investigators, cannot be heard until March next year.
So Judge Peter Cooke adjourned the case for trial and granted Dancer unconditional bail – but ordered that it should be listed for a pre-trial review in December.
