Driver caused death of teenager lying in road

A teenage girl was struck and killed after she lay down in the middle of a road, a court was told.

After a two-day hearing at Masterton District Court, Michael David Tobin, 22, was found guilty of careless driving causing the death of Esther Raewyn Woods, 16. Both Tobin and the girl lived in the town.

She died in Wellington Hospital's intensive care unit a week after the incident on July 7 last year.

Tobin was also found guilty of failing to stop to see if anyone had been injured and to give assistance.

A witness told the court of seeing Miss Woods, who was upset and crying, lie down in the middle of Church Street, Masterton, as a car approached.

The witness stood in the road close to Miss Woods and tried to halt the car by waving his hands up and down but the vehicle failed to stop and hit Miss Woods.

Judge Michael Berends said the witness's evidence was crucial to proving that Tobin's driving was careless and fell beyond the reasonable standards of a competent and prudent driver.

Tobin said he was going quite slowly -- about 40-45km/h -- and said he was looking straight ahead and could not see anything on the road.

He said the last thing he saw was "something white flash in front of the car and then I hit something. I felt a bump -- I didn't know whether it was a dog or human".

Tobin stopped the car, but didn't get out. "I was freaking out...I thought about going back but I didn't want to see that it was human," he said.

Judge Berends said Miss Woods died of brain injuries after being struck by the left hand side mudguard and bumper bar area of the car, but he said he could not determine if the car had passed over her.

Tobin was remanded on bail for sentencing on June 23.

- nzpa