Former police officer Louise Corbett has triumphed in Ironman competitions. But a biking accident, which she says was the fault of a "careless" driver, nearly stopped her in her tracks.
A motorist says he was alarmed to see a cyclist who was travelling behind him speeding up, as he was slowing down.
Driver Michael Lams is defending a private prosecution brought by former police officer Louise Corbett who says he cut her off, causing her to slam on her brakes and come off her bike, as she was cycling through Richmond.
The question over whether his driving was careless is being tested in court in a three-day, judge-alone trial in the Nelson District Court.
Lams gave evidence before Justice Chris Tuohy he had been indicating and braking, as he drove down Wensley Rd, in efforts to make it clear to cyclists behind him he was intending to turn left.
He said as he got to the bottom of the hill, he became concerned one of the cyclists hadn't seen him.
He moved left to give an "additional clue" he was intending to turn, and then went around the corner to "safely" get out of the way of the cyclist.
He then recalled hearing a crash behind him.
Corbett has instructed the private prosecution as her former police colleagues decided there wasn't evidence to warrant criminal charges.
Her case relies on evidence from her husband, Wayne, who's still a serving officer, who was cycling with her at the time of the accident.
The pair were riding through Richmond on April 1 last year, while Mrs Corbett was training for an Ironman event, when she was came off her bikes.
She'd suffered a fractured skull, nose and shoulder, three air-bubbles on the brain, multiple eye injuries, three cracked ribs, and a fractured wrist.
Defence lawyer Luke Acland called the wife of a motorist who had been travelling in the oncoming lane at the time of the accident.
She had been a front passenger of her husband's car, which had stopped to turn right into Dorset St, from Wensley Rd.
She described seeing a four-wheel drive coming down Wensley Rd towards them, indicating to turn left into Dorset St.
Her account was the same as her husband's, who gave evidence on Wednesday, the first day of trial.
"This woman went over the handlebars," she said.
The bikes had been travelling behind the vehicle, she said, which had been moving towards the footpath.
The vehicle had already gone around the corner when the cyclist had "flipped and was going down the road".
She said the car hadn't been "anywhere near" the cyclist when she came off the bike.
However, the prosecution case is the motorist had cut in front of his wife at a "right angle".
Mr Corbett, who was travelling behind his wife, said he first saw the vehicle, which was slowing down in the centre of the lane and about to start a turn, when he saw his wife hard braking and going into a skid.
He told the court on Wednesday he had a "clear vision" of his wife flying over the handlebars and a car turning at a right-angle in front of his wife.
Acland questioned Mr Corbett's recollection of the accident however, as he had initially misidentified the colour of the car in a statement to police, calling it a brown or bronze four-wheel drive, when it was actually silver.
Acland put to him the car he saw cut in front of his wife's resting body was actually a vehicle that had turned right, from the oncoming lane, after the accident happened.
The prosecution case is Lams made an error in judgment in the way he completed the turn, miscalculating the time he needed to pass in front of Mrs Corbett, which had forced Mrs Corbett to slam on her brakes to avoid him.
The Judge is also considering evidence about the speed Mrs Corbett was travelling, based on data taken from her smart watch.
The data recorded she reached a top speed of 54.8 kilometres per hour; however, the data didn't show the exact location at which she was travelling at that speed.
The trial continues.