Police officer to be charged with careless driving

The collision involved a patrol car and another vehicle on State Highway 1 at Clarence, South of Blenheim. Photo / File

A highway patrol officer who drove a police car that hit another car on State Highway 1 will be charged with careless driving.

The Marlborough police officer performed a U-turn in front of an oncoming car with two passengers on a straight section road, at Dead Man Stream near Clarence, north of Kaikoura, on January 14.

Tasman police district communications manager Barbara Dunn said the officer would be charged with careless driving.

But, she told the Herald: "The officer involved is yet to receive a summons for careless use of a motor vehicle."

Dunn had said to stuff.co.nz that any crash involving a member of the police or a police employee went before an independent crash panel.

This was to ensure any charges laid were fair and impartial.

It took almost three months for the panel to decide on what charge the officer would face.

A serious crash unit investigation confirmed the officer was at fault, Marlborough area commander Inspector Simon Feltham said in January.

He also said at the time that any internal disciplinary action would be independent of the court process.

The injured couple were Hollie Mae Hills and Javan Cruickshank, from Southland, who
were heading south in their Toyota Corona when the police car pulled out in front of them.

They were taken by ambulance to Wairau Hospital in Blenheim following the crash and Hills, who had pain to her neck and numbness to her hand, was kept overnight for observation.

Cruickshank, who suffered minor injuries to his elbow, was discharged on the same day.