Andrew Espley, prosecuting, claimed that the car driver Oliver Varey, then 24, fled at 100mph for more than half a mile after the fatal collision between his Suzuki Swift car and Richard Thomson’s Kawasaki.
A jury heard a friend of Mr Thomson pursued Varey and told him to return to the scene.
Mr Espley said Mr Thomson, 69, of Essex, died of his injuries despite all that medically qualified eyewitnesses and paramedics could do.
Giving evidence, Varey claimed he was in shock after hearing a big bang close to his Suzuki Swift and was doing about 60mph as he drove on looking for a place to stop and turn round. He disagreed that he had travelled more than half a mile from the scene.
The jury heard that after the crash, the motorcyclist’s speedometer gave a reading of 102mph. The prosecution claims this was caused by the movement of the bike’s wheels and other factors following the collision; the defence claims this could give an indication of the motorcyclist’s speed before the collision.
Varey, now 27, of Mallard View, Norton, denies causing Mr Thomson’s death by careless driving.
Opening the prosecution, Mr Espley alleged Varey’s Suzuki was the second vehicle in a line of traffic heading towards Malton within the speed limit on an unclassified road through Little Edstone in the mid-afternoon of Saturday August 28, 2021.
Mr Thomson was the lead motorcyclist of five Kawasaki riders who had met up that weekend and were riding together in the same direction behind the line of cars.
Mr Espley alleged that Mr Thomson moved into the opposite lane and as he overtook the line of cars, Varey pulled out to overtake the front car when it was not safe to do so, and the Suzuki and Kawasaki collided.
Motorcyclist witnesses denied that Mr Thomson was travelling at anything like 100mph.
Mr Espley said prosecution and defence collision experts agreed that the motorcyclists were over the 60mph speed limit but disagreed on how much.
Varey alleged in evidence that he had checked his mirrors at least twice before pulling out and believed it was safe.
He alleged he had seen a single motorcyclist at the back of the line of cars and had believed it was going at the same speed as the line of cars.
He heard a “big bang” at the rear of the driver’s side of the car and drove on.
“You knew you had hit a motorcycle and you decided to run away,” alleged Mr Espley.
“No,” replied Varey.
“You smiled (while answering the question),” alleged Mr Espley.
“No, I think it was an outrageous claim. That is why I smiled.”
He claimed that when he went back to the scene, his girlfriend, who had been in a car further back in the line of traffic, took him to one side.
“I sat there, head in my hands crying. I couldn’t believe what I had seen,” he told the jury. He remained at the scene.
He alleged that he was on his way back to Malton after playing for a Kirkbymoorside football team against one from Dringhouses, Acomb, when the collision happened.
The trial continues.
