Driver in fatal rally car crash saw woman ‘flying in air’

AN Irish rally car driver involved in a crash in Scotland which killed three people broke down as he told an inquiry that he saw a woman ‘flying in the air’.

David Carney, 29, from Co. Mayo, said he lost control of the vehicle after going over a bridge and then realised he was heading towards spectators. He said he no longer rallies, and that more than three years on from the crash, ‘I still see three people lying in the road... every time I close my eyes at night’.

He was giving evidence at a fatal accident inquiry examining the deaths of photographer Iain Provan, 64, his partner Betty Allan, 63, and Len Stern, 71, at the Jim Clark Rally near Coldstream in the Scottish Borders in May 2014.

Mr Carney told Edinburgh Sheriff Court he had been an amateur rally driver since 2008, competing in races at home and overseas, and had driven in the Jim Clark Rally in 2013.

He said his vehicle had come off the road during the rally the day before the crash on May 31 and hit a tree.

Mr Carney said it had been repaired by his team of engineers. He said that once those repairs had been carried out the car ‘felt perfect’, and that he had expected to go over the bridge with no problems.

Mr Carney said: ‘I steered into the slide but the car just kept coming. It seemed to just go that quick, I couldn’t catch it.’

Andrew Brown QC, for the state, asked him: ‘Were you aware that the car was heading towards spectators?’ Mr Carney became emotional as he replied: ‘Only when I looked after I knew the car was gone.

‘I grabbed my helmet and started shouting, “No, no, no”. I knew I had lost control at that point.

The inquiry heard from official reports stating there were no defects on the car and concluding the crash at 81mph (130kph) was likely to be either due to the car going too fast for the driver’s ability, not being aligned to a slight deviation to the right on landing, not landing in proper alignment or a combination of these factors.

The inquiry continues.