A 41-year-old mother has been cleared of careless driving after she was in an accident which killed a schoolgirl crossing a road as she walked home.

Amy Howard, 12, of Crossbank Road, Addingham, had got off a bus and was crossing the A65 Addingham bypass when she was struck by a Honda CRV driven by Alison Dewhurst in December 2006.

Mrs Dewhurst was found not guilty of driving without due care and attention by Bingley magistrates after a trial which ended yesterday. She had denied the charge.

The court had heard in evidence that Mrs Dewhurst did not see Amy until she was immediately in front of the car's headlights.

Delivering the verdict, District Judge Sheila Driver said evidence heard during the trial did not show beyond reasonable doubt that Mrs Dewhurst could have seen Amy on the opposite side of the road and she did not "depart from the standard of a reasonable or competent driver".

Mrs Dewhurst had picked up her daughter from school in Ilkley and was driving home when the incident happened in December 2006.

Although motorists stopped and tried to resuscitate Amy until paramedics arrived, she was pronounced dead on arrival at Airedale General Hospital in Steeton.

Prosecutor Richard Smith referred to witnesses who said the weather was "awful" and that Amy was wearing dark clothes with no reflective strips.

Mr Smith maintained, however, that: "For a driver to travel along the road in those conditions and not to see a pedestrian to the point of impact is evidence that the driver was not displaying the care and attention that a motorist ought to have done in those circumstances."

The court heard how a lack of lighting on the road, coupled with the weather conditions, led the driver of Amy's school bus to struggle to find the bus stop, while witnesses driving behind Dewhurst, also said they did not see Amy prior to the collision.

Roderick McKinnon, a former policeman of 22 years specialising in investigating the scenes of road accidents, was an expert witness for the defence.

When asked by Mrs Dewhurst's solicitor, Richard Green, whether Amy had been running immediately before the collision, Mr McKinnon said the damage to the car was sufficient evidence to suggest she was. He did admit during cross-examination, however, that there was also evidence to suggest she was walking.

Witnesses who analysed evidence from the incident said Mrs Dewhurst, of The Rookery, Kirkby Malham, had been travelling about 15-20mph below the 60mph speed limit on the road.

District Judge Driver said: "Nothing that I say or decide can detract from the terrible consequences of that night in December 2006.

"I can only imagine the grief that has been experienced by Amy's family and friends as a result of her tragic death."