A speeding car became airborne and damaged Jim Beniston's Whangārei home. Photo / composite
An elderly pensioner feels lucky he wasn’t at home the morning a speeding car became airborne and crashed through his roof.
Jim Beniston, 85, was in Whangārei hospital recovering from an infection when he was woken by police officers that day.
It was May 6, around 1.45am he told the Herald.
“The light went on and two police officers stood there telling me my house had been demolished by a speeding car, the car was stolen, and they were still looking for the driver,” Beniston said.
“The front of the house - the kitchen, lounge and dining room - were demolished. I’m thankful to be alive.”
Beniston is concerned no one will ever want to buy his house, and wonders if he will continue to be able to get insurance.
His neighbour Ruby doesn’t feel safe in her home. She said the police told her the car was going at least 180km/h at the time of the crash at the corner of Mill Road and Millers Lane, Tikipunga.
“I was in bed when I heard this big rumbling noise, it felt like an earthquake. By the time I got out of bed and into the hall the guy had scarpered. I’m relieved Jim wasn’t home, he usually sleeps in an armchair in the lounge,” Ruby said.
Beniston was unaware that when he bought the house in 2019, the garage had been destroyed twice already.
The Herald talked to Shane Forman, son of the previous owner, who told him cars had smashed into the garage on two separate occasions when his mother Grace lived there.
“Thankfully the cars didn’t get as far as the lounge [those first two times]. Mum was at home,” Foreman said.
Beniston’s partner Annette Moncur, 77, is urging the Whangārei District Council to install safety barriers to protect them.
“Council approved the development of these properties. With that comes a duty of care to ensure the safety of the residents. I’m worried someone will be killed,” Moncur said.
“We pay our rates and expect our councillors to do something.”
Moncur told the Herald councillor Simon Reid visited the crash site and was visibly affected by the destruction.
Reid told the Herald he sympathises with Beniston.
“It’s not easy to just put up a crash railing with the recent law changes,” he said.
“It has to absorb some of the impact rather than stop it. In my opinion - and in this case - the person breaking the law is better looked after.
“It’s about budget. Sometimes I feel like the Sheriff of Nottingham - you have to steal from one to give to another.”
An email obtained by the Herald from the Mayor’s office on June 30 said: “Staff are investigating options for installing a crash barrier. Currently this is not a funded project.”
It went on to say a decision would be made in the next financial year or as part of the 2027 Long Term Plan.
Whangārei Mayor Vince Cocurullo told the Herald protective barriers might not be the solution.
“The fact someone was speeding has nothing to do with the development of that piece of land,” he said.
“Hypothetically, if someone hits the barrier at high speed and it launches the car into the air and straight into a house, barriers aren’t going to solve the problem.
“We are waiting for our roading team to see what can be done. They will present to the council and that’s when we will make the decision to fund safety barriers - or it could be a complete re-design of that intersection which could take up to 2 years.
“It’s a 50 kilometre area and someone was speeding so that’s a police matter not a council one,” Cocurullo said.
Senior Sergeant Rene Rakete, Whangārei Area Response Manager, said a 22-year-old Tikipunga man was arrested last weekend.
In a statement, Rakete said: “Police began an investigation after a crash was reported near the corner of Mill Road and Millers Lane. A stolen vehicle allegedly collided with a fence and went through the roof of a house at high speed. The vehicle and house sustained significant damage.
“The driver had fled the scene, a warrant in lieu of summons was sought last month for the offence of dangerous driving. The man has appeared in court and will reappear on 21 July. It is fortunate that the alleged actions of this man did not result in fatalities.”
Meanwhile, Beniston’s two-bedroom unit remains under wraps and it will be at least another six months before it’s rebuilt and habitable.
“I am disappointed no one seems to be able to do anything,” he told the Herald.
“I am worried about going home. There is nothing to stop this from happening again. Will the insurance company pay for damages? I can’t sell this place with the cloud we’re under. What will it take - someone to die before anything is done?”
Carolyne Meng-Yee is an Auckland-based investigative journalist who won Best Documentary at the Voyager Media Awards. Recently she was runner-up for Best Editorial Campaign and part of a team that won Best Coverage of a Major News Event: Philip Polkinghorne Murder Trial. She worked for the Herald on Sunday from 2007-2011 and rejoined the Herald in 2016 after working as an award-winning current affairs producer at TVNZ’s 60 Minutes, 20/20 and Sunday.