A COMPANY charged in relation to the death of a man in 2013 is fighting the allegation in court.
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Venarchie Contracting was charged with failing to comply with a health and safety duty in 2014, following the death of Ravenswood man Terrence William Close in a driving accident on February 5, 2013.
Mr Close, an employee of Altus Traffic, was monitoring traffic on Vermont Road at Mowbray when he was struck by Mayfield’s Murray Higgs in a utility while he was crossing the roadway.
Mr Close died a short time later.
Higgs was charged with causing death by negligent driving and pleaded guilty in months later.
In September 2013, he was sentenced to a three-month suspended jail term and his driver’s license was suspended for 12 months.
But the Director of Public Prosecutions also proceeded against Venarchie Contracting and Mr Close’s employer over the incident.
Altus Traffic was contracted by Venarchie Contracting at the time to monitor traffic while Venarchie employees sealed cracks in the road.
The charge against both companies is a “category two” offence, meaning it is alleged the companies played a role in the death of Mr Close, but were not the direct cause.
Venarchie Contracting has pleaded not guilty.
During Venarchie Contracting’s hearing in the Launceston Magistrates Court on Monday, senior prosecutor Simon Nicholson detailed Mr Close’s death.
He said Mr Higgs had been travelling about 45 kilometres per hour and was attempting to tune the car’s radio at the time.
Mr Nicholson said Mr Higgs took his eyes off the road to do so, because he had missed the station he wanted to listen to.
“When (Higgs) looked up, Mr Close was right in front of him,” Mr Nicholson told the court.
In his police interview, Venarchie Contracting employee Kevin Rodney Reynolds – who was working on the same job site as Mr Close on the day of his death – said he “heard a bang” and witnessed Mr Close “sliding across the road”.
On Monday, Mr Reynolds gave evidence and said he didn’t witness the accident itself, but saw Mr Close moments before the ordeal.
Mr Reynolds acknowledged the weather was fine and traffic was light before the incident.
The hearing continues.