Jurors in a Wodonga trial have been asked to decide if a double fatal crash in June last year was a criminal act, or an accident.
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Markwood woman Jodie Contacolli does not dispute that she was driving her husband's Nissan Navara when it crashed into an FJ Holden at Laceby.
The Greta Road collision, which occurred on June 13, killed Jamie Drummond and Peter Turner in the Holden.
The Wodonga County Court on Tuesday heard Contacolli told police she was distracted by her daughter in the rear of the Nissan.
"I looked up and they were just there," she allegedly said of the Holden to a paramedic at the scene.
She was interviewed at the Wangaratta Police Station and said she believed she had looked at her daughter in the rearview mirror.
"I don't even know if I braked," she told police.
Jurors were told CCTV footage of the Holden showed its brake lights were working.
The vehicle, which was in the process of being restored, was preparing to turn into the driveway of the Wangaratta airport.
The court heard the Holden was extensively damaged while the Navara, which had a bullbar, had moderate frontal damage.
Defence lawyer Philip Dunn, QC, said his client admitted she was distracted immediately before the incident, but it was up to the jury to determine if her actions were criminal.
"Was this an accident or was her driving so bad, it fits a criminal offence?" he said.
Contacolli has entered not guilty pleas to two counts of dangerous driving causing death.
Mr Dunn said the law recognised that "human beings aren't machines" and "we all know accidents happen".
"We're not perfect," he said.
"We all make mistakes.
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"Sometimes you lose concentration, you get distracted by something.
"We're not talking about that.
"We're talking about something much more serious to be guilty of this criminal offence."
Contacolli had been travelling to pick up her mother to head to Albury-Wodonga at the time of the crash.
The first witness will give evidence in the trial, before Judge Michael Cahill, on Wednesday.
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