A woman accused of running a stop sign and causing a crash that claimed the life of a man fleeing from police says she is a “vigilant driver” who always does her “left and right checks”.

The 29-year-old woman, who has name suppression, is charged with careless driving causing Sam Rasmussen’s death in 2024.

Today she took the stand in the Waitākere District Court where Rasmussen’s whānau appeared wearing T-shirts, hoodies and badges in remembrance of their loved one.

Moved to a secure room

Before court began, the woman was sitting as she was yesterday – tucked in a corner of the public gallery with a support person.

However, she was taken to a secure room in the court before proceedings started today so she could observe the rest of the trial and give her evidence via audio-visual link.

After 40 minutes of in-chambers discussions and some technical difficulties, the trial picked up where it left off yesterday – with the defence’s crash analyst Bruce Wilson.

Wilson and police crash analyst Senior Sergeant Gary Abbott agreed on some facts of the crash but not others.

They agreed that on the evening of March 13, 2024, Rasmussen was riding his Harley Davidson on Rimu St, New Lynn, West Auckland.

He was speeding in a 50km/h zone and fleeing from police when the woman left a stop sign on Nikau St, at the intersection with Rimu St, and collided with Rasmussen in the middle of the road.

Rasmussen was flung about 29m from his motorbike and later died from his injuries.

The court earlier heard how the two experts disagreed on Rasmussen’s estimated speed on impact, which Abbott said was 85km/h or more and Wilson said was at least 93km/h.

What was also in dispute was that the woman was able to see Rasmussen from Nikau St, with the police alleging she didn’t look before pulling out from the stop sign.

‘Obviously’ checked left and right

The woman told the court she was driving home via Nikau St and stopped at the stop sign before the intersection.

She let another car pass that was coming from the “same direction” as Rasmussen, before continuing through the intersection.

“What sort of visual checks, if any, did you make at the stop [sign]?” her lawyer Anton Heyns asked.

“I obviously did my left and right checks, which is why I stopped for the car to go through,” the woman replied.

She did not remember the impact, but a new detail about the crash had come back to her.

“I just remember spinning.”

She remembered spinning around in her car in the intersection. The next thing she remembered was getting out of the car and seeing Rasmussen injured on the ground.

In a police video interview from the day of the crash, which was played in court yesterday, the defendant told the interviewing officer she “always” stopped at stop signs.

Apart from this, police prosecutor Luke Foley pointed out, she had not mentioned looking left and right in her first police interview.

When Foley asked why she had “come up with” these new details, she said she was in shock directly after the crash.

“Over the last two years some of the events have come back to me. ... It’s not something I’ve come up with since then.”

A messy footwell and reclined seat

The court heard there was a mess, including a pack of cigarettes, a water bottle and fly spray, left in the driver’s footwell of the woman’s car after the crash.

Foley suggested the mess was there before the crash.

The defendant denied that, saying the clutter had landed there when the car spun after the collision.

Foley asked whether the woman drove with her back against the seat, to which she responded yes, she always drove with a straight back as she was a pianist.

But when he pointed out her driver’s seat was photographed after the crash “far back” and reclined, she said she had leaned forward while driving.

“You stopped for the car ... but you didn’t do any left and right checks before moving out after that car, did you?” Foley said.

“I can’t recall,” she replied. “I am a vigilant driver and I always perform my checks.”

She ended her evidence by giving her “deepest” condolences to Rasmussen’s family.

“I’m extremely sorry for your loss.”

The woman’s evidence concluded a two-day judge-alone trial.

Judge Terry Singh told the court he needed to read over the expert evidence and get additional information from the lawyers before he could give his verdict.

The judge indicated his verdict will be delivered in about a month.

Ella Scott-Fleming has been a journalist for three years and previously worked at the Otago Daily Times, Gore Ensign and Metro Magazine. She has an interest in court and general reporting. She’s currently based in Auckland covering justice related stories.