which claimed the life of 30-year-old Craig Astwood.

Mr. Astwood died after a collision with a van at the junction of South and Horseshoe roads in Southampton.

Yesterday, the van's driver, Adelle Laura Roberts, of Somerset Road, Sandys Parish, pleaded not guilty to causing the victim's death by dangerous driving.

The court heard that shortly before noon on September 10, 1996, both vehicles were travelling on South Road. Astwood was traveling east on a black Suzuki motorcycle and Roberts was traveling west in a white delivery van.

The two vehicles collided as Roberts turned right into Horseshoe Road.

Yesterday, witnesses made frequent use of accident scene photographs to explain the sequence of events.

Heather Mitchell, of Lighthouse Road, Southampton, told the jury she was driving west, in front of Roberts and two taxis, around 11.40 a.m.

Ms Mitchell said she saw Mr. Astwood pull out of a lane near the Tio Pepe restaurant.

"He wasn't going slowly, but he wasn't going at an excessive speed,'' she said. "He just pulled out.'' Ms Mitchell said "split seconds'' after Mr. Astwood passed her, she heard a loud noise and stopped her car to investigate.

She said she saw Mr. Astwood lying in the road and Roberts sitting in her parked van near the entrance of Horseshoe Road.

"I went over to the van and asked what happened,'' Ms Mitchell recalled, "and she (Roberts) said "Where did he come from?'' "She seemed to be in shock.

"I said `He passed me, why didn't you see him?''' According to Ms Mitchell, Roberts repeatedly asked "Where did he come from?''.

But defence lawyer Mark Diel pointed out Ms Mitchell had made no mention of seeing Mr. Astwood pull out of a lane in her statement to Police.

He also suggested Ms Mitchell was not near Roberts' van at the time of the accident.

And he questioned whether or not a person travelling west around the "bend'' before Horseshoe Bay could see a vehicle coming out of the lane near the restaurant.

But Ms Mitchell maintained she had a clear line of sight, especially because the roads were quiet on the day in question.

James Seymour, an acquaintance of both Mr. Astwood and Roberts, also witnessed the accident.

Mr. Seymour said he did not remember seeing any other traffic on the road at the time of the accident, nor did he remember seeing Roberts indicate before turning.

But he said he clearly saw Mr. Astwood's helmet strike the metal between the van's front left window and windscreen.

"He tried to stop, that's what it seemed,'' Mr. Seymour said.

James Johnston, a pathology expert, said Mr. Astwood's impact upon the front panel of the van severed his spinal cord and produced the same injury as a judicial hanging.

"His skull was intact, but completely dislocated,'' Dr. Johnston said.

And director of the King Edward VII Memorial Hospital emergency department, Edward Shultz, said a 17 centimetre neck laceration -- described by an emergency medical technician as "ear to ear''-- made CPR impossible. The trial continues today before Puisne Judge Norma Wade-Miller.