Delay not a factor in man's death: Coroner

Raymond Tuporo died in a car crash in which live wires obstructed rescuers for more than two and a half hours. Photo / Facebook

A man who was trapped in his crashed car beneath live wires for almost two hours probably would have died even if there wasn't a delay in treating him, a coroner has found.

Emergency services arrived at the scene of an Onehunga crash where a car had struck a powerpole at 2.13am on September 2, 2012.

The driver - Raymond Tuporo - had survived the impact but was not treated for his injuries until 4.40am because live power lines, caused by the impact of the crash, had landed on top of his car.

He was dead by the time ambulance staff reached him.

But Coroner Morag McDowell said, while about 30 minutes could have been saved, Mr Tuporo's life probably wouldn't have been.

"There is also no evidence from which it can be concluded that had Mr Tuporo been extricated in the fastest, reasonable time his death would have been prevented," she said.

"While understanding [the family's] grief in this respect, on the evidence before me this, sadly, would have been only a remote possibility."

Mr Tuporo, of Favona, had been at a party in Otara on the night he died, leaving about 9.30pm to drop a friend off before driving home.

He was found to have 180 milligrams per 100 millilitres of alcohol in his blood at the time of the crash on Neilson St - 100 milligrams over the legal limit.

Speed and the alcohol level in his blood were found to have caused Mr Tuporo to lose control on a corner and crash.

When emergency services first reached the site he was only able to be examined from about 1-2 metres away because of the live wires and was found to be critically injured.

He was semi-conscious and incoherently verbally responded initially but was no longer speaking about an hour later. His breathing rapidly and shallow, the report said.

A delay in turning off the power lines was caused by the faultman failing to find the power station in a "timely" manner because of a GIS map failure, which could have saved about 30 minutes, coroner McDowell said.

But it did not contribute to his death, she found.

She said, since the incident, the power company had introduced a new software package to use on iPads which does not require the internet and should resolve the issue.

Coroner McDowell said she extended condolences to Mr Tuporo's family and friends.

"It has been clearly evident that Mr Tuporo's whanau has been devastated by their loss and that they have been distressed by the questions which arose in relation to his death," she said.