Missing wheel bolt led to Simba Mhere car crash: witness

An accident reconstruction expert would not concede that alcohol could have been a factor in an accident that killed Top Billing presenter Simba Mhere two years ago.

Stanley Bezuidenhout compiled a report for the defence in which he concluded that the car driven by Preshalin Naidoo, the man accused of causing Mhere and a passenger's death, had a mechanical failure.

Naidoo is facing charges at Randburg Magistrate's Court of culpable homicide and reckless and negligent driving . He has pleaded not guilty.

Bezuidenhout's report found that a missing bolt in one of the wheels was the main cause of the accident.

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Prosecutor Dinesh Nandkissor asked Bezuidenhout yesterday if alcohol could not have been the cause of the accident.

"You sat through this trial and you heard witnesses say the accused smelt of alcohol and that there was a bottle of vodka in his car. Do you have a reason not to believe that alcohol was a contributing factor?" he asked.

Bezuidenhout responded: "I don't know if the smell was of alcohol. I was not there. I can't say that from what I heard I believe it is."

Nandkissor also questioned Bezuidenhout's expertise with cars, asking him how he was sure that the accident was caused by the missing bolt in Naidoo's wheel.

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"You can't tell the court how a car drives with a missing bolt," Nandkissor charged.

Bezuidenhout countered: "I drive a wide variety of cars and I examine thousands of vehicles that have been involved in accidents."

Mhere and Kady-Shay O'Bryan, who were passengers in the car, died in the accident on William Nicol Drive in Fourways, Johannesburg, on January 31, 2015.

The trial resumes on Friday.