Just one second made the difference between life and death for teenager Hunter Ives.
If bus driver Vaughan Tairoa had turned one second earlier, he would have cleared the intersection before Hunter, 17, came through on his motorcycle. The calculations, which came down to a split second, showed as much.
A police report showed the bus needed between 4.44 and 4.55 seconds to make the turn between Whakatiki and McLeod Streets in Upper Hutt, Judge Bill Hastings said.
“Mr Tairoa judged there was sufficient time to make that turn,” he said in the Hutt Valley District Court on Friday.
The time between Tairoa beginning the turn and Hunter hitting the back of the bus was 3.5 seconds.
“The impact was to the left rear of the bus, indicating the bus was nearly finished its turn when Hunter crashed into it.”
It is also possible the crash might never have happened if Hunter had been following the speed limit that day, experts have pointed out.
Tairoa appeared in court last week for sentencing on careless driving causing death, which he earlier pleaded guilty to. The incident happened two years ago on July 4.
Vaughan Tairoa (right) with defence lawyer Michael Bott in the Hutt Valley District Court.
The weight of his misjudgment was heard in the multiple victim impact statements read to the court, as well as his own words to Hunter’s family, who sat in the back of the courtroom.
“All I can say is I just cannot get over this,” he told them, after describing what happened that day - making the turn, thinking he had enough time, and rushing to give first aid when he realised Hunter had crashed into the bus.
For Hunter’s family, the trauma is even more prominent. His father, Dave Ives, spoke of how he had to move to a different role at his workplace, NZTA, after his son’s fatal crash was used as an example in a meeting about road deaths. Ives had previously worked in a role connected to the road toll.
“No words can express the impact of losing my son. He was a smart, outgoing, loving kid, who would give the shirt off his back to help someone out,” he said.
“Tasks that I have on my to-do list I struggle to have forward momentum with as they were things that Hunter and I would do together . . . the emotional toll is huge and unfathomable.”
He said it was a kick in the teeth that Tairoa pleaded guilty to the driving charge only to seek a discharge without conviction.
“A get out of jail free card seems unfair when considered against the life sentence our family has been handed.”
In a statement read out by her husband, mum Carla Ives said their family would forever be incomplete now.
The crash happened at the intersection of Whakatiki and McLeod Streets in Upper Hutt. Image / Google Maps
“For a long time after we lost Hunter, I stayed home to avoid bumping into people in the community and therefore risk falling apart in public.”
She said their family loved music, but now the songs that Hunter used to love only brought them heartache.
Brother Kane spoke in his statement of how he could not grow up with Hunter anymore.
“My kids won’t have an uncle. I wish I could have done something to change what happened.”
His sister, Emelia, said in a video statement when a police officer came to her work to tell her about Hunter’s death it felt “like a sick joke, something out of a nightmare”. Instead, it was “a reality created by the defendant”.
“Losing Hunter is one of the worst things that has ever happened to me and the weight of this loss is unbearable.”
Hunter’s girlfriend, Dani, also spoke in court, saying she still can’t picture what her life is going to be like without him.
She said she was anxious every time she upset someone and worried when loved ones went out.
Judge Bill Hastings in the Hutt Valley District Court on 13 June, 2025. Photo / Melissa Nightingale
“One moment you’re telling someone you love them and you’ll see them after work, and the next moment you’re being told they’re gone . . . [this has] caused me to grow up in ways I shouldn’t have had to.”
Defence lawyer Michael Bott said if Hunter had been going the speed limit there would have been time to avoid the bus.
“There is a degree of carelessness but it is so slight and the consequences are so tragic,” he said.
Judge Hastings said most drivers would experience moments of distraction, inattention or carelessness in their lives.
“In the vast majority of such cases, there will be no adverse consequences. In a few rare cases, the consequences of momentary driver carelessness can be catastrophic.”
He said the fact Hunter was riding above the speed limit did not refute Tairoa’s carelessness.
The judge referred to a statement from Tairoa’s son, who said he watched him isolate himself from the world after the crash.
“He didn’t want to leave the house, he didn’t want to see anyone, he didn’t want to feel like a burden on his family when his family is what he needed most,” Judge Hastings said.
He disagreed that a discharge without conviction was appropriate, saying that while Tairoa’s gravity of offending was low, the consequences of a conviction were not out of all proportion, as it seemed likely he would be able to keep his job as long as he was not disqualified from driving.
He instead sentenced him to 80 hours of community work and ordered him to pay $2500 in emotional harm reparation.
Melissa Nightingale is a Wellington-based reporter who covers crime, justice and news in the capital. She joined the Herald in 2016 and has worked as a journalist for 10 years.
