A Sandys man accused of causing the death of a construction worker in a road accident was on the wrong side of the road when the crash occurred, a Police expert told a Supreme Court jury yesterday.

And Crown counsel Patrick Doherty said evidence would be heard that Quinton George Ible, 51, got behind the wheel while he was drunk.

It was also revealed that Ible's van only had one working headlight at the time of the accident.

Ible, of Laurel Lane, has denied charges of causing death by dangerous driving and drink driving.

It is alleged his Ford van collided head on with 33-year-old Humberto Pineda's scooter on South Shore Road, just outside the Southampton Rangers Football Club, at 11 p.m. on September 18, 1998.

Mr. Pineda died on the way to King Edward VII Memorial Hospital following the accident.

Yesterday, Mr. Doherty opened the prosecution's case by predicting evidence would show that tests revealed Ible had 140 milligrams of alcohol to every 100 millilitres of blood, the limit being 80 milligrams of alcohol.

He also predicted the jury would hear that Mr. Pineda's blood alcohol level was also over the legal limit, at 93 milligrams of alcohol.

Mr. Doherty called Police accident investigator Det. Con. Antoine Fox to the stand.

Det. Con. Fox told the four-woman, eight-man jury he believed Ible's van was on the wrong side of the road when it hit the scooter.

"Based on the fact that the debris from the collision was found in the east-bound lane,'' he said, "I can only conclude that that is where the impact occurred.'' Det. Con. Fox also said an inspection of the van revealed that one of its headlights "could not have been working'' at the time of the crash.

But, in cross-examination, questions from Ible's attorney Delroy Duncan revealed that the debris from a crash was the "least reliable'' indicator that investigators look for in trying to determine a cause.

And he admitted: "It is accepted that debris placement should only be used as corroborative evidence alongside any other evidence.'' However, Det. Con. Fox said there were no markings left by either of the vehicles on the road surface and the debris was the only indication for the location of the impact he had to work with.

Mr. Duncan also quizzed the officer on why a damage match was not done on the two vehicles to find out what the exact angle of the impact was.

Det. Con. Fox said he had only done a visual check of the damage to find out the general angle rather than an precise calculation.

The jury also heard from Darren Smith, who witnessed the accident as he was waiting for a taxi on the sidewalk.

"I saw the two vehicles coming toward each other at what seemed like a normal speed on their own sides of the road and then I looked away. In that split second, I heard the crash.

"I turned to look and saw a person flying through the air,'' Mr. Smith said.

"Immediately, I thought the van must have hit the bike because the van was so big.'' He described how he called an ambulance on his cellular phone and went over to the victim to see if he could help.

"I couldn't tell if he was breathing but by then the Police had arrived and were checking him over.'' Evidence was also heard from Police Sgt. Clive Brown, who arrived on the accident scene shortly afterward and questioned Ible.

"I asked him if he was the driver of the van and he said: "Yes, I don't know what happened. I didn't even know I struck some one.'' Sgt. Brown said he could not smell alcohol on Ible's breath "because he was chewing gum'' but added that "his speech was laboured''.

"I asked him if he'd been drinking and he replied: `I had a few drinks'.'' The trial continues today before Assistant Justice Philip Storr.