A female van driver was cleared of all criminal liability in a road accident wherein a motorcyclist suffered grievous injuries after a court concluded that there had been no shortcoming on her part.

Rodianne Desira, 26, had been targeted by criminal prosecution over her allegedly negligent and dangerous driving which had caused the collision on Dawret Ħal Għaxaq in March 2014.

The woman had exited a side road, heading towards Gudja, when a noticeable bump towards the rear end of her vehicle caught her attention. It was only then that she realised that a motorcycle had crashed into her van.

The motorcyclist had been driving along the main road, keeping close to the central strip, heading towards Żejtun, when the accused’s van had crossed his path, the sudden manoeuvre making it next to impossible for the motorbike to avoid impact.

The motorbike rider later explained how he had spotted the van at a standstill at the stop sign, before it drove out onto the main road just as the motorcyclist had driven past.

Yet the van driver painted a different picture of the dynamics of the incident, explaining that she had been at a standstill at the stop sign when another driver on the main road had signaled her the all clear.

“The accused did not in any way just exit onto the main road without taking all necessary precautions,” the court observed, after taking note of all the evidence, pointing out that it had been the motorcyclist who had miscalculated the situation, driving ahead when the van had already exited the side road.

In fact, the bike had collided with the rear part of the accused’s van, the court observed, declaring that “even circumstantial evidence indicated no shortcoming on the part of the accused”.

The court, presided over by magistrate Simone Grech, cleared the van driver of all accusations declaring that it had not been proven that she had failed to abide by traffic regulations taking all necessary precautions as a side road user.

Lawyer Robert Galea was defence counsel.