A WOMAN who crossed to the wrong side of the Pacific Highway at Belmont North and caused a head-on crash that killed a 50-year-old woman was under the influence of cannabis, according to an agreed statement of facts.
Peta Warland, 32, of Belmont North, was represented by solicitor Chris O'Brien when she appeared in Newcastle Local Court on Wednesday charged with six driving offences.
Warland pleaded guilty to dangerous driving occasioning death - driving under the influence and the other charges were withdrawn.
She will next appear in Newcastle District Court in July to get a sentence date.
Police said Warland was behind the wheel of a Ford Falcon that crossed to the wrong side of the Pacific Highway about 7.25am on May 13 last year and collided head-on with a Mitsubishi Colt.
The driver of the Mitsubishi, a 50-year-old Belmont North woman, died at the scene. Warland was trapped in her vehicle and later taken to John Hunter Hospital in a critical condition where she underwent treatment and mandatory testing.
On October 23, some five months after the crash, she was arrested and charged.
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