Teenage death crash driver 'probably froze'

Anuj Antony

A common crash phenomenon called target fixation may have prevented a teenage driver from avoiding a head-on crash that claimed his life and that of his brother and cousin.

It is believed Anuj Antony froze when he saw the oncoming bus rather than look for a way to avoid hitting it, when he was overtaking a horse float on State Highway 1 last year.

The 16-year-old driver, his 21-year-old brother Anjo Antony and their 13-year-old cousin Richard Kurian died of major injuries as a result of the accident.

In his findings into the cause of the crash, Taupo coroner Wallace Bain said the tragic accident resulted from a "misjudgment in overtaking".

He also referred to "target fixation" as a possible explanation for the crash.

Strategic traffic unit constable Peter Sowter said target fixation occurred when drivers became fixated with a problem and didn't look for an escape option.

For example, when heading towards a power pole in a crash, drivers tend to stare at the pole and then crash into it, rather than looking for an escape.

In this case, Mr Sowter said, it was possible Mr Antony froze when he found himself in a head-on situation with the bus, hitting it rather than looking for an escape.

The evidence showed that Mr Antony, his brother and their cousin were driving north to Hamilton when he decided to overtake some slower traffic on a short, straight stretch of road on State Highway 1, just north of Taupo.

"Having passed at least two vehicles, he attempted to overtake the horse truck at the head of the queue. This was in spite of not having sufficient clear road ahead in which to do so," said Mr Sowter.

"He carried on and drove directly into a bus heading south. There is no evidence of braking or any sort of evasive manoeuvre from Mr Antony."

The car hit the bus head-on and was pushed about 40m backwards before coming to rest. All three occupants were killed by the force of the collision.

Mr Sowter said that during the passing move the driver of the horse truck saw what was happening and pulled left, giving Mr Antony room to squeeze between it and the bus.

But although the road was wide Mr Antony still hit the bus.

"In this situation the driver may well have frozen."

A sample of blood taken from Mr Antony revealed a small amount of alcohol in his system but not enough to have affected his ability to drive.

A vehicle inspector found no mechanical defects. The weather was overcast with misty light rain falling.

Mr Antony held a restricted driver's licence. His brother, who was in the front seat, had a full licence.

The Hamilton brothers had moved to New Zealand from India with their family 18 months before the accident.