Van driver 'distracted' before nine-death crash

The scene of the crash last May. File picture / Amos Chapple

The driver of a van which crashed killing nine people was distracted and lost control, a coroner has found.

The accident, on State Highway 27 at Ngarua, near Morrinsville, in May last year, was the second worst road crash ever in New Zealand.

Morinsville District coroner Peter Ryan said the evidence was overwhelmingly clear that there were no existing mechanical faults in either of the vehicles involved, no interference with the drivers of the vehicles, and no road or other environmental conditions, which could have caused this crash.

Mr Ryan found that truck driver Stephen Torr, who was not seriously injured, in no way contributed to the cause of the crash.

"The evidence shows that Mr Torr reacted very professionally and appropriately when presented with an out-of-control vehicle coming towards him around a bend," he said.

"I am therefore left with no other explanation as to the cause of the crash but that the driver of the van, Mr Gibson, was distracted in some way such that he lost control of the van and, while trying to regain control, inadvertently caused the van to slew across the road into the path of the on-coming truck."

Gregory James Megas, Donna Lee Megas, Vellore Padmanaban Thirumurthy, Suchitra Thirumurthy, Urmila Thirumurthy, Ahilya Thirumurthy, Naphat Juiyim, George Edward Gibson, and Robert Sylvain Michel Besse died in the accident.

Their late model Mercedes van was driving south and collided with a truck weight 36 tonnes travelling north. The driver of the van was Mr Gibson.

Mr Ryan said: "Under the circumstances of this particular crash, and given the environment of the crash scene, I do not consider that there are any recommendations that can usefully be made that may assist in preventing such crashes happening again."

A witness, Robert Ramsey, told the March inquest it was raining intermittently and the road where the crash happened was very wet.

He said the van entered the corner normally but a split second later it went into a small fish-tail skid. The van appeared to be under control but then it fish-tailed again.

The truck and trailer was carrying approximately 18 tonnes of timber planks from a lumber yard in Putaruru.

Mr Torr said he was travelling between 80 and 85km/h and was easing off the accelerator for the corner he was approaching.

The van was halfway through the corner when it started to slide. Mr Torr moved his truck to the left of the road as far as he could go because he could see that the van was coming on to his side of the road.

The van slid towards the truck side on, and the front centre of the truck hit the centre of the passenger's side of the van.

- NZPA