KEY POINTS:
A teenage driver "went nuts" and tried to get himself run over as a woman lay dying under a van he had flipped, Palmerston North District Court has been told.
Dane John Murray, 19, was appearing on charges of dangerous driving causing death, dangerous driving causing injury and driving while disqualified.
The crash happened on the Pahiatua Track on July 19 last year.
Murray pleaded guilty to the driving while disqualified charge, but denies the others, the Manawatu Standard reported today.
He is appearing before Judge Les Atkins.
Karen Dawn Ansell, 42, of Masterton, was fatally injured when she was thrown from the vehicle, which landed upside down on top of her in a drain.
The other passenger, Naomi Williams, suffered various injuries but managed to climb from the overturned vehicle.
Ms Williams told the court that she had warned Murray several times to slow down before the accident.
She said that on a corner the left back wheel of the van hit gravel and it fish-tailed before rolling.
After climbing out, Ms Williams stayed with her friend who was half trapped under the van and turning cold.
At that time Murray was "going nuts", screaming, yelling, kicking and punching the van, she said.
He said, "I want to die, I don't want to go to jail", and proceeded to lie in the middle of the road so a car would run him over, Ms Williams told the court.
- NZPA
