Cyclist tells of seeing crash which killed his mother

Driver Kristy King. Photo / Supplied

A teenaged son says witnessing his mother's death in the crash which killed three cyclists in the Waikato was "pretty hard" and made him think more about his own driving.

Cyclists Wilhelm Muller, 71, and Mark Ferguson, 46, were killed on Walton Rd, about 12km south of Morrinsville, on November 14, when their group was struck by a car driven by Kristy King.

Kay Wolfe, 45, died four days later.

A tearful King, 23, today admitted three charges of careless driving causing death when she appeared in Morrinsville District Court.

Gavin Wolfe, 18, was among the group of cyclists on November 14 and was about 30m behind when he saw the crash.

"I was first on the scene. I was directly behind and I was lucky not to be involved myself," he said outside court today.

"I only missed it by several feet. The car slid right past me still travelling at some speed and I managed to just avoid it.

"It was a pretty hard thing for me to see, such a terrible accident happening involving my own family members right in front of me, and also two of my friends."

The crash happened when King lost control of her car and Mr Wolfe said it brought home to him the damage that a motor vehicle could cause.

"I can say I'm not a perfect driver, I've been known to drive a little bit fast and recklessly myself I guess," he said.

"One of my first reactions was `wow, I could have done that myself the way I drive sometimes'. It sort of opened my eyes to that a bit. It's pretty shocking to see she that wasn't really doing anything too crazy by the sounds of it, and have something like that happen.

"It really brings it home how one little accident in a motor vehicle you can do some terrible damage."

His father Roger Wolfe is among a group of cyclists campaigning for a law change requiring vehicles have at least 1.5m space between them and a cyclist when passing from behind.

However, he said this crash was different as it was a head-on collision.

"In this case you've just got to get from A to B as carefully as you can (as a driver) and not hurt anybody. That's your responsibility," he said.

"I don't care whether it's a cyclist, or a girl on a horse, or a pedestrian. The message is that if you're in a car, you've got to be responsible."

In a statement read to the court, King said words could not describe how sorry she was.

She said she hated herself for the incident and would never drive again, though Roger Wolfe hoped she would reconsider.

"That's just punishing herself even more. She's got to move forward, like all of us."

Gavin Wolfe said it was clear at the scene of the crash how upset King was and he thought her statement in court was very touching.

King, who was still in tears as she left the court with her family, will be sentenced on February 14.

She said she was willing to meet with the families of the victims in a restorative justice conference, something the Wolfes said they would be open to.

- NZPA