New inquest into horror Auckland motorway death almost 18 years ago

Police work at the scene of an accident on the Southern Motorway near Greenlane where Eddie Tavinor was killed while driving the blue utility. Photo / Peter Meecham

A new inquest is set to get under way today into the death of a young father killed in a horror motorway incident almost 18 years ago.

Pukekohe plasterer John Edward "Eddie" Tavinor was decapitated when part of a truck's driveshaft smashed through the windscreen of his ute as he drove in the northbound lanes of Auckland's Southern Motorway on the morning of November 20, 2000.

Tavinor's partner, Michelle Foord, gave birth to their third child 10 days later.

In an inquest two years after Tavinor's death three expert witnesses agreed the driveshaft separated because of bearing failure, with wear and tear on a bearing "well in excess" of the manufacturer's limits and which should have been detectable during work on the vehicle at Roadlife Services 11 days before the failure.

But an eight-month police investigation ended with no charges and, in his 2003 finding, coroner Murray Jamieson said the workshop failure was less important than the "substantial and remediable defects" in the road haulage industry.

The circumstances surrounding the tragedy were not confined to a single brand of driveshaft, workshop or company, he said.

Those circumstances will again go under the microscope today at the Auckland District Court, when a new inquest begins before coroner Gordon Matenga.

The hearing comes after engineers Peter Morgan, of Auckland, and Timothy Smithson, of Hamilton, made a submission to Crown Law in 2013 asking for a new inquest.

When contacted by the Herald on Sunday, Morgan would only say the submission was made because he believed the original finding wasn't correct.

Following the first inquest, Mitsubishi Motors told the Herald a specialised training programme covering servicing and maintenance of driveshafts had been implemented.

A hoop around the driveshafts of all new trucks had also been installed as an extra safety measure.

Jamieson also recommended at that time that the then-Land Transport Safety Authority distribute his finding to the haulage industry and said a copy would also be sent to the Ministry of Transport.