Decision date set for bus driver accused of causing dad and child’s deaths

A woman is in the final stretch of a court fight against allegations that “excessive braking” and negligent driving caused the deaths of a father and his two-year-old daughter. SEE LEGAL ARGUMENT >>

A date has been set to decide the fate of a woman accused of causing the deaths of a father and his two-year-old daughter by negligent driving.

Christine Helen Chatterton, 69, was charged on two counts of causing death by negligent driving after a collision between a bus, a sedan and two other cars on Algona Rd, Huntingfield in August 2020.

Double fatality crash on Algona Road between Kingston and Blackmans Bay. Accident involved three cars and a bus with Tasmania Police at the scene. Picture: Nikki Davis-Jones.

The deceased 42-year-old father and his two-year-old daughter were in the black Lexus sedan.

Ms Chatterton was driving the white 1998 Hino passenger bus, but she has denied causing the pair’s deaths through negligent driving, pleading not guilty to both counts and going through a hearing where police, forensic and witness evidence was recounted.

The matter appeared in the Hobart Magistrates Court before Magistrate Marica Duvnjak on Tuesday, with Ms Chatterton’s lawyer appearing as her representative.

Floral tributes and a small toy unicorn lay at the fatal crash site on Algona Road, where a Huntingfield father and his young daughter were killed in a car crash. Photo: Phil Young.

The defence lawyer argued the bus driver had been placed in unusual circumstances by her employer, covering a shift because another driver had been sick.

The lawyer urged Ms Duvnjak to consider “matters such as her familiarity with the bus, how long it’s been since she drove, the route she used to take”, and claimed there had been “matters outside her control”.

Floral tributes and a small toy unicorn lay at the fatal crash site on Algona Road, where a Huntingfield father and his young daughter were killed in a car crash. Photo: Phil Young.

Ms Chatterton’s legal counsel further argued the prosecution’s case, which was to prove whether or not Ms Chatterton applied excessive brake force, was flawed.

The prosecutor argued there had been sufficient time and space for Ms Chatterton to slow down without the need to apply the brakes forcefully.

Ms Duvnjak adjourned the matter to reappear in court on May 30, where she will hand down a decision on whether or not Ms Chatterton caused deaths by negligent driving. 

Originally published as Decision date set for bus driver accused of causing dad and child’s deaths