Selwyn Rabbits has spent the years since his son Graeme's death investigating the safety of cardan shaft brakes, and discovered several other related deaths. Now, a coroner's report has backed him up, calling the braking system "inherently dangerous". Photo / Nick Monro, RNZ
By Sharon Brettkelly of RNZ
After a death on a construction site, a coroner’s report has called a braking system found in some 70,000 vehicles around New Zealand “inherently unsafe”. Waka Kotahi disagrees.
Every time Selwyn Rabbits hears of a vehicle accident in the news, his first fear is that it is the same dodgy brakes as those on the runaway vehicle that killed his son nearly eight years ago.
“You get an instinct,” Rabbits says, a former military engineer and director of crane company Lifting Management.
His son Graeme Rabbits was crushed in January 2018 when the brakes failed on a telehandler, which rolled down a slope and pinned him against a concrete mixer at a construction site in West Auckland where he was working.
Selwyn started investigating soon after Graeme’s death and discovered several fatalities caused by vehicles with cardan shaft brakes since 2010.
The brakes are in around 70,000 vehicles in New Zealand – they are a common and cheaper form of braking system, with a single mechanism connecting to the gearbox rather than at the wheels.
Last week, in a major development, Coroner Erin Woolley found the parking brake was “inherently unsafe”. The finding was rejected by NZ Transport Agency Waka Kotahi (NZTA) – but is in line with Rabbits’ own conclusions after nearly eight years of extensive investigations.
RNZ’s senior Checkpoint producer Louisa Cleave and reporter Jimmy Ellingham have been in close contact with Rabbits for many months but he was only prepared to go public with his story after the coroner released her findings.
Cleave tells The Detail how she became aware of Rabbits’ research into his son’s death through his niece, a friend of hers.
“I was immediately taken in by the detail that he had put together, it was an extensive amount of work in terms of other accidents that he had discovered, linked to the same braking system.
“One was just the previous year to Graeme’s death and I can only imagine when he started looking and started discovering all these other accidents and deaths how he realised that this was something that was a major problem,” Cleave says.
She says Rabbits was very insistent that he would not step outside of the coronial process and speak about the case because that’s where he would get the answers. It was always clear that any reporting would be based on her findings.
The coroner referred to six fatal incidents involving vehicles with cardan shaft brakes since 2010, including one after Graeme’s death.
Her report said that Graeme’s death happened because the cardan shaft brake in the telehandler he was using to tow out the concrete truck failed to hold when it was parked on a slope.
It had been subject to a comprehensive servicing regime, and the coroner said it would not have been obvious to Graeme, or any other person on-site, that the brake would suddenly let go in the way that it did.
According to the report, what happened to Graeme could happen to any other person and more needs to be done to educate the users of vehicles with cardan shaft brakes about the inherent danger they pose.
The coroner also strongly encouraged NZTA to acknowledge that relying on a cardan shaft brake as the only brake on a vehicle is inherently dangerous, because even a well-maintained brake can fail without warning.
NZTA does not accept that finding.
In an interview with Checkpoint, NZTA’s deputy director of land transport Michael Hargreaves says since December 1, 2022, there have been significant changes to the Certificate of Fitness process, including roller brake testing.
He says that has led to fewer vehicles failing.
“In 2020, about a third of these vehicles used to fail, in 2025, after the roller brake test, it is now around about 5%,” he said.
He did not accept the coroner’s finding that the brakes could fail whether or not they had passed the test.
“Our view and the assessment that we have made is that if we target the factors around poor maintenance and operational use, which is what we have done, those safety benefits will flow.”
Several reports on the NZTA website are dedicated to the brakes’ limitations and how to operate and maintain them. Over the years it has updated and added to the advice.
In July 2022, it issued a safety alert for them “to raise awareness of the limitations of the brake mechanism, including the potential risks of parking on slopes”. That was in addition to a WorkSafe bulletin on driveshaft parking brake failures.
The transport agency also requires vehicles with the braking system to display warning stickers.
Rabbits says NZTA has not done enough and he is seeking a meeting with the chair of the agency, Simon Bridges.
He knows it’s not viable to ban all of these vehicles outright as it would be hugely costly and inconvenient. But he wants more done to warn drivers and he wants to see new imports stopped.
Cleave says his call to action is backed by many in the industry.
The National Carriers Association has sent an updated alert to its 1500 members after the coroner’s report.
Heavy vehicle compliance expert Steve Bullot says the system has a fatal design flaw.
Cleave says she has spoken to a number of other people in the industry who echoed those concerns.
In a written statement to Checkpoint, Bridges says Rabbits’ request is being considered by NZTA and a response will be provided directly to Rabbits.
Any legal advice to NZTA or its board members in connection with the coronial findings and recommendations is legally privileged and confidential.
Rabbits is determined and says he has a lot of supporters. His objective has always been to prevent another death or injury.
“I come from a military background, I was an engineer in the air force and I’ve always believed that you’ve got to make the system right so that it performs, it does its functions just like the Navy is doing with the Manawanui.
“This has not been as a grieving father. I’ve always approached this logically, constructively. And I’m a strong believer that if you do that, sooner or later someone will take notice.”
– RNZ