A DRIVER knew she was not safe to drive before ploughing into a group of friends, killing two men, a court heard.

Emma Downs, 38, drove her 4x4 into the group as they walked back to their campsite down the wrong side of a country lane at twilight.

She told survivors: “I just didn’t see them,” after driving straight into James Morden and Matthew Lind, both 31, killing them both on September 9, 2017.

She told friends in the days before the collision she thought the painkillers she had been prescribed had made her unsafe to drive.

In text messages, she told friends she could barely see at night.

She wrote to a friend on the day of the fatal collision: “I was really struggling with my meds and no food.

“Keep fainting.

“I can barely drive, it’s not safe at night.

“It took me 30 mins to write that, I need an eye test.”

The two men were walking in a group with Mr Lind’s partner when the car drove into them.

Lauren Maynard, who suffered a head injury, described the moment the 4x4 hit them.

“I thought it was going fast, about 50mph,” she said.

“I turned around again to see how far away it was. I noticed it hadn’t slowed. I heard it hitting branches. I started to say ‘It’s not slowing down’.

“I hadn’t finished the sentence when the car hit us.”

The Nissan Pathfinder was using full-beam headlights and Downs, from Crowborough, made no attempt to slow down or avoid the group before the collision, the court heard.

The two men were part of a group of 16 friends and colleagues on a weekend break in the countryside in September 2017.

They were split into two groups, all walking on the left side of the road with their backs to traffic coming up behind them.

None of the group were carrying torches or wearing reflective clothing, the court heard.

Lewes Crown Court heard a group of seven were walking back to the Embers campsite near the Bentley Estate from a local pub when the Nissan came up behind them, travelling at between 40 and 50mph.

Elizabeth Lowe for the Crown said: “She simply did not see them at all.

“She took no avoiding measure.

“She appreciated she was running a risk and as a result of her running that risk, two relatively young men died.”

James Morden, 31, of Hilbert Road in Tunbridge Wells and Matthew Lind, 31 of Broadway Court, Wimbledon, were killed on September 9, 2017 at Harvey’s Lane, Ringmer.

Two women, a 29-year-old from Wimbledon and a 27-year-old from Addlestone, Surrey, were injured.

The other three pedestrians in the group – a 29-year-old man from Addlestone, a 24-year-old woman from Morden and a 31-year old woman from Sutton, both in south London – escaped unhurt.

Downs denies two counts of causing death by careless driving. The trial continues.