Fatal smash teens were sitting on each other

Photo / Doug Sherring

A car that crashed head-on into a milk tanker near Blackball in September 2010 had been modified just hours before, killing two West Coast teenagers.

The front and back seats had been swapped around but were not bolted down, and a hole was cut in the middle of the 'front' seat for the gear lever and handbrake.

An inquest into the deaths of 16-year-olds Troy Quayle-Lindbom and Ivy Schrivener was conducted in in Greymouth yesterday.

As well as the modifications, none of the tyres were up to Warrant of Fitness standard, the vehicle did not have a current Warrant of Fitness and the registration had expired.

Constable Scott Crook, who was first on the scene of the crash on Atarau Road, near the Blackball turnoff, on September 25, 2010, found Ms Schrivener was sitting in Mr Quayle-Lindbom's lap, behind the steering wheel.

"I have never come across anything like this before, there were two drivers. I come across people in car boots or too many people squashed into a car, but not two people in the driver's seat," Mr Crook told the hearing.

"There were another three people in the vehicle, and only the front seat passenger was wearing a seatbelt."

The driver's side of the vehicle took the full impact of the crash.

"Quayle-Lindbom was dead when I arrived at the scene, and Schrivener initially showed signs of life, but died at the scene as well."

Mr Crook said the horror of the scene would be with him forever. "It was a waste of young lives."

A passenger in the car told police after the crash that speed may also have been a factor.

Police believe the vehicle was being driven at between 110km/h and 120km/h at the time of the collision.

A 50-litre keg of beer was also recovered from the wreckage.

The toxicology report for Mr Quayle-Lindbom returned a blood-alcohol level of 110mg, above the adult legal limit of 80mg. He also had traces of cannabis in his system.

Ms Schrivener had traces of both alcohol and cannabis in her system.

None of the occupants in the vehicle had a driver's licence.

Mr Quayle-Lindbom had been stopped on two previous occasions, once in Hokitika and the second time in Christchurch for driving while forbidden.

"It was not until after the crash that people contacted the police reporting they had seen the vehicle, prior to the crash, speeding," Mr Crook said.

There were also discrepancies as to where the car had come from before the collision.

"We don't know how the young people got hold of it."

Coroner Richard McElrea asked Mr Quayle-Lindbom's mother, Donna-Marie Lindbom, if she knew where Troy had obtained the vehicle.

She said he swapped it a week before the crash with a friend for a new pair of shoes.

Mr McElrea said the bizarre seat configuration would have contributed to the fatality.

The pair would have died from high energy impact injuries, but because the pathologist was authorised only to undertake an external examination, the likely fatal injuries were not apparent.

"This was completely avoidable and a waste of two young lives."

- The Greymouth Star