Teen dies in a fatal crash along Queen Charlotte Drive. Photo / Google Maps
A teenager who died after crashing a tractor was eating, drinking and using his phone before the vehicle left the road.
Trenton Karl Jones, 18, died from severe head and neck injuries after the tractor he was driving crashed through a barrier and rolled down a steep bank on Queen Charlotte Drive near Cullen’s Point in the Marlborough Sounds on October 21, 2021.
In findings released on Tuesday, Coroner Rachael Schmidt-McCleave said Jones’ death was entirely preventable. But she did recommend that Marlborough District Council install a metal barrier at the site to prevent similar deaths in the future.
“Had [Jones] been fully focused on driving the tractor, and had he not been distracted by eating, drinking and messaging on his phone, he is likely to have been able to take evasive action to avoid crashing down the bank, or to safely negotiate the curve in the first place,” the coroner said.
Jones grew up in Tapawera, south of Nelson, and moved to Linkwater in 2020 to work for Leslie Bros Contracting.
Paul Leslie, one of the owners, said Jones showed up to work early every day and was a “good little fella”, who was “good on machinery” and “great with numbers”.
The morning of his death, Jones and Leslie had travelled to Canvastown, where a paddock needed ploughing.
The tractor was on site, and Leslie watched Jones do pre-start checks on the tractor before leaving him to complete the work with the understanding he would drive the tractor back to the business’ premises in Linkwater once it was done.
Later that morning, Jones was driving the tractor back to Linkwater on a winding section of Queen Charlotte Drive in Havelock, when he failed to negotiate a right-hand bend, crashed through a wooden barrier, and rolled down a steep bank on the left-hand side of the road.
At the time of the accident, it was sunny and the road was dry, well-marked and in fair condition. The tractor did not have any mechanical faults.
An investigation by the Tasman Police Serious Crash Unit found remnants of an ice cream, sausage roll and coffee inside the overturned tractor, while analysis of Jones’ phone data showed he had been using Snapchat while driving, though he had placed his phone back into his chest pocket before the crash.
Jones was likely distracted by eating, drinking and messaging on Snapchat as he negotiated the bend in the road, causing the tractor to crash through the barrier and down the bank, Schmidt-McCleave said.
The senior constable who oversaw the crash investigation said Jones had not been wearing his seatbelt and, if he had, he “more than likely would have survived”.
Schmidt-McCleave said given the injuries described in the post-mortem, she did not have enough evidence to reach that conclusion.
The crash investigator also said the wooden sightline barrier was not sufficient to prevent the tractor from crashing through, and had there been a metal or wire barrier at the curve in the road, it might have kept the tractor on the road and prevented the crash. He recommended Marlborough Roads should consider installing one.
Marlborough District Council and the district’s roading office, Marlborough Roads, advised the coroner it managed a roading network approximately 1500km long, much of it rural and mountainous, with around 250 sight rails in the region to delineate the road next to steep drop-offs.
The council said it would be challenging to install a metal barrier at the site of the crash because of the steep terrain, as the deep anchoring required for barrier posts would be difficult. It deemed its current approach to road safety was adequate, including the use of sight rails, signage, line marking and appropriate speed management.
Schmidt-McCleave recommended Marlborough District Council further consider installing a metal or wire rope barrier at the crash site and on similar bends on Queen Charlotte Drive, in order to reduce the chances of further deaths occurring in similar circumstances.
The coroner also endorsed the Transport Agency’s recommendations on driver distraction, which included encouraging motorists to turn their phone off when driving or using “do not disturb” mode, and taking regular breaks rather than eating, drinking or smoking while driving.