A MOTORIST whose overtaking manoeuvre preceded a fatal crash, had "seconds" between seeing the car she collided with and the collision itself, a jury heard.

Katherine Dawkes was overtaking a lorry in her Land Rover Discovery on the A4538 between Crowle and Spetchley, near Worcester, when she collided with a Ford Capri travelling in the opposite direction.

Twenty-six-year-old father-of-two Timothy Hill, of Cherry Orchard, Pershore, a passenger in the Capri, died instantly.

Defence witness Dr Stephen Ashton, a road traffic accident investigator, estimated the time between the drivers of each vehicle seeing the other vehicle's headlights and the impact occurring was around three-and-a-half seconds.

"When Katherine saw the Capri she knew she was on the wrong side of the road but when the Capri driver saw the Land Rover he may not have known where on the road it was," he added.

The Land Rover was partly off the ground after the collision, with its front on the Capri, Worcester Crown Court was told.

Dr Ashton suggested the joint impact speed of the vehicles was greater than 60mph but less than 100mph and that the Capri's speed at impact was 37-62mph and the Land Rover's was 22-37mph.

He said it was probable the Capri had been travelling at 60-65mph prior to braking.

Mr Hill, aged 26, from Pershore, who was a rear-seat passenger in the Capri, died instantly.

Dean Andrews, also from Pershore, who was in the front seat of the Capri, has been in a vegetative state since the crash on April 21 last year.

Peter Prosser, 27, of Hatfield Bank, Norton, the driver of the Capri, is still on crutches from leg injuries.

Dawkes, 36, of Moor Lane, Wilmslow, Cheshire, denies causing death by dangerous driving.

Earlier, the court heard Dawkes giving evidence, during which she said she had tried to steer on to the verge to avoid the Capri and had prayed for the injured.

The trial continues.