Road death sparks warning

Napier coroner Warwick Holmes has warned of the dangers of walking on roads at night in dark clothing, following an inquest into the death of Aston Kawana, who was killed by a drunk and speeding driver while walking on the Hawke's Bay Expressway on May 30, 2004.
Evidence from Constable Warren Clayton of the Napier CIB said Kawana had played rugby in central Hawke's Bay on May 29.
He was one of many of his team who drank beer on the way back to Napier and continued to drink at the rugby clubrooms before going to a party.
He was last seen outside a Tamatea address, where it is believed he failed to get into either of two vehicles heading into town. Motorists later told police of seeing Mr Kawana on the Hawke's Bay Expressway, halfway between Kennedy Road and the Meeanee lights, walking along shingle at the side of the road toward Hastings.
The last known sighting of him was about 1am on Sunday, May 30. One motorist described having to swerve to avoid hitting a male matching Mr Kawana's description, who appeared drunk.
About 1.30am an accident occurred on State Highway 50 between the Pakowhai lights and the Tutaekuri River bridge.
A witness to the accident saw a stationwagon, driven by a person later identified as Noel Martin Spencer, drive up behind him and swerve onto the wrong side of the road to pass.
The vehicle was described as travelling about 120km/h, before sliding sideways and veering into a ditch on the left side of the road.
On June 18, searchers found Mr Kawana's body lying in a ditch close to the area where the accident occurred.
Broken glass was found at the scene, and a post-mortem showed injuries consistent with being hit by the side of a vehicle travelling at more than 100km/h.
Further examinations revealed damage to Spencer's vehicle matching that of hitting a person, and paint from that vehicle was found on Mr Kawana's clothing.
A tissue sample taken from Spencer's vehicle also matched Mr Kawana.
A police reconstruction found that because of the clothing he was wearing, Mr Kawana would have been unlikely to be visible to any motorist until within about 60 metres, if he was visible at all.
Spencer later appeared in the Napier District Court charged with drink-driving causing death and driving while suspended.
A blood-alcohol test on Spencer gave a reading of 175mg of alcohol per 100ml of blood, almost double the legal limit of 80mg.
After being convicted, Spencer was sentenced on August 31 to 2 1/2 years' imprisonment and was disqualified from driving for three years.