A man charged with the manslaughter of German student Catrin Schaefer was accused of being "reckless'' and "negligent''.

And a former friend of the 23-year-old student, who was riding behind her just before a collision with the car of accused Bissoonduthsing Ramchurn, yesterday testified in the Supreme Court that the defendant's vehicle was driving "on our side of the road''.

Ramchurn, of Mauritius, has pleaded not guilty to three charges relating to the accident, which happened on Kindley Field Road in the early morning hours of September 27, 1998.

Along with the manslaughter count, the 33-year-old St. George's resident answered to a charge of causing death by dangerous driving and causing death by driving while over the lawful alcohol limit.

Crown counsel Sandra Bacchus told the five-woman, seven-man jury they would be convinced Ramchurn, a chef who has lived here for ten years, had been driving "with a reckless disregard for human life and safety'' and "negligence''.

Ms Schaefer had been celebrating the end of a week-long biology trip to Bermuda, which she had taken with five other students from Heinrich Heire University in Dusseldorf, Germany.

Based at the Bermuda Biological Station for Research, the students had spent several days making field trips on a boat and toured the Island on scooters.

Organising the trip was university zoology professor Christopher Bridges, who also testified in court yesterday.

He told the court the group had been socialising at Swizzle Inn and departed at around 1 a.m. to return to BBSR.

He noted: "Catrin did not consume any alcohol when she was there. She just ordered a Coke when she arrived.'' But having gone on ahead, it was not until Mr. Bridges arrived at BBSR when he realised Ms Schaefer was not behind him.

"One of the students arrived shortly afterwards,'' he said, "and he told me that there had been an accident.'' Mr. Bridges said he went back to the scene of the collision on Kindley Field Road and comforted the other students, whom he noted were in shock.

Also testifying was fellow student Thorsten Kisters, who was driving behind Ms Schaefer when the accident occurred.

He described how, when they were approaching Stonecrusher Corner, he "saw bright lights and suddenly saw a car on our side of the road. Being behind Catrin I had time to react and drive onto the grass,'' Mr. Kisters said, "but she didn't.

"The collision must have been very powerful because she and the motorbike flew through the air and landed behind me. Her motorbike crashed into the car traveling behind us.'' Appearing for the defence, Philip Perinchief suggested that Mr. Kisters was mistaken in recalling the collision occurred in the far left of the road's left lane.

But the student replied: "No that is incorrect. I'm 100 percent sure of what I saw.'' Part time taxi-driver Clinton Raynor, who came upon the accident scene shortly afterwards, testified that he saw "what I thought to be radiator fluid'' in a trail leading up to Ramchurn's smashed Toyota Starlet, which stopped in the middle of the road after the collision.

And firefighter Sgt. Ronnie Aguiar -- called out from the Clearwater Fire Station -- backed this up, describing how he saw fluid dripping out of the battered car's front section when he examined it.

A statement from pathologist Dr. Clark Johnson revealed that Ms Schaefer had died from multiple injuries, most notably a fractured skull and spine.

Dr. Johnson also described most of the girl's lacerations as being consistent with those caused by glass from a car's windshield.

Another statement from Police vehicle fleet manager Francis Williams, who examined all the vehicles afterwards, noted that there were no mechanical problems with any of them that could have caused an accident.

Ramchurn, who is on $5,000 bail, will return to court today when the trial continues before Puisne Judge Philip Storr.