Local News

Woman admits to texting and driving minutes before crashing car and killing friend

While she admits she was distracted, she insists the crash was "just an accident."

Despite countless warnings atop the dangers of texting and driving, motorists continue to use their phones while behind the wheel, convinced that it’s not that dangerous.

A 25-year-old Perth woman had revealed in court that she was driving and texting her partner just moments before a crash which killed her friend, Sarah Kelly, in August 2016.

The crash killed Sarah instantly. Image credit: 7 News

Aine Marie McGrath, the driver of the vehicle, denies any claims that dangerous driving was the cause of the accident, insisting that the fatal crash occurred as she was trying to avoid a crash with a jeep. The car swerved across four lanes of traffic before it was “t-boned” by another vehicle, killing Sarah, who was sitting in the passenger seat instantly.

Speaking to the court, Ms McGrath recounted “I steered right to avoid hitting the back of (the Jeep), then to avoid hitting the barriers I swerved left. I knew I was going across four lanes. It all happened so fast; it was really frightening.”

Despite admitting she wasn’t paying attention to the road, she asserts the crash was “just an accident.”

not even one minute after a final text was sent to McGrath, which phone records list as read, a triple zero call was made about the crash.

The trial around this tragic case is ongoing.

Related stories