Five people were killed in the two-car crash on SH3 Te Awamutu on May 28, 2024.
An unlicensed teen driver who crossed a centreline and ploughed into an oncoming vehicle was seen “huffing nangs” in the moments before a deadly crash that claimed five lives.
Driver Piata Amelia-Blaise Otufangavalu, her partner Suliasi Halapea Lefai and her friend Cheyene Love-Mitchell all died in the crash on State Highway 3, just north of Te Awamutu in May 2024.
Whatawhata couple Paul and Lois Grimmer, who were in the car heading in the opposite direction, were also killed.
In findings released today, Coroner Matthew Bates said not only had Otufangavalu been huffing nitrous oxide, but there was cannabis in her system, which potentially exacerbated her impairment.
The 19-year-old was also not meant to be on the road because she had never held a driver’s licence, “and therefore should not have been operating any motor vehicle on a road”.
Coroner Bates said the fatal crash was an important reminder about the dangers of driving while impaired.
“The tragic consequences of impaired driving have the potential to touch any of us.
“My sincere hope is that continued publicity, education, and enforcement intended to free our roads of impaired drivers gains greater traction.”
He said it remained unknown just how much nitrous oxide was in the young driver’s blood because the former Institute of Environmental Science and Research (ESR), now the Institute for Public Health and Forensic Science (PHF Science), did not have the technology available to measure it.
However, Otufangavalu and Love-Mitchell were seen “huffing” in their vehicle on their way to pick up Lefai from Mystery Creek on May 24.
Then the trio, all aged 19, were also caught on a vehicle’s CCTV with deflating green balloons “immediately” before the crash.
Otufangavalu and Lefai lived together in Auckland, while Love-Mitchell lived in Te Awamutu.
The two women had been good friends “for many years”, according to Love-Mitchell’s father.
The Toyota had been lent to Otufangavalu two months earlier because she was considering buying it.
On Friday, May 24, Otufangavalu and Lefai travelled to Te Awamutu for a baby shower.
They were meant to head home the next day, but their car broke down so they stayed at her grandmother’s house.
Her grandmother last saw her about 10am on Tuesday, May 28, when she brought breakfast to her work.
The pair ate and chatted together for about 40 minutes before she left, appearing to be in “high spirits ... and well rested”.
Otufangavalu was then going to visit a friend before picking up Lefai, who was working at a Fieldays event at Mystery Creek.
On their way to pick him up, between 3pm and 3.30pm, a passenger in another car saw the Toyota come “right up behind [them] and was trying to pass [them] using the median strip in the middle of the road”.
The Toyota continued to tailgate and beep its horn.
Another motorist, described in the inquest findings as Witness C said they too could see both the driver and passenger in the Toyota with “big green balloons” and thought they were “huffing nangs”.
“Huffing nangs” refers to a balloon being filled with nitrous oxide, then huffing the gas to get a lightheaded feeling or a bit of a buzz.
Otufangavalu continued tailgating, beeping, and swerving, so the second motorist eventually passed three cars ahead to try to distance themselves from her.
However, Otufangavalu did the same and moved back in behind them, before they turned off SH3.
Otufangavalu continued towards Hamilton.
At 4.43pm, Otufangavalu returned heading south, with Lefai as front passenger, and Love-Mitchell in the back.
The couple were wearing seatbelts, but it was unclear if Love-Mitchell was wearing hers.
Another motorist, Witness B, recalled Otufangavalu was behind him and said he saw the occupants “doing nangs/or NOS”, by inhaling from “big green balloons”.
He felt the car was being driven so erratically that he contacted his partner and asked her to call *555.
At the same time, the Grimmers were heading north out of Te Awamutu in their Audi, in traffic described as “dense”, given that commuters were heading home after work.
According to their daughter, they would take weekly drives together to various locations.
Often they’d head south to Ōtorohanga, where they’d buy an ice cream, or head to their family homestead in Parawera.
Their daughter considered her father an “excellent” driver who had been a truck driver and owned a trucking business for about 30 years.
Meanwhile, as Witness C followed Otufangavalu south on SH3, he estimated she was travelling at about 95km/h, similar to him.
Then, when they came to a sweeping corner, the Toyota continued straight, making no attempt to slow or correct its course, and crashed into the Audi.
He said Paul Grimmer would not have had time to react.
CCTV footage from Grimmer’s car showed the time between the Toyota crossing the double yellow line and the impact was 1.931 seconds.
Coroner Bates ruled out speed, fatigue, distraction, and Grimmer’s driving as factors in the crash.
Otufangavalu was unlicensed, but her mother described her as a confident driver who had been driving since age 15.
She had driven SH3/Ohaupo Rd many times, both as a passenger and a driver.
Bates said police found individual green balloons in the car, along with an open bag of balloons, two large 640g canisters of NOS, and a bong used for cannabis.
The bong was believed to belong to Love-Mitchell, the coroner said.
In a text to Otufangavalu from Lefai between 2.38pm and 2.39pm, he says, “mKe sure you come with a cannister” [sic] and “& don’t fkn open it”.
Coroner Bates said it was clear the trio “had some knowledge” of using NOS recreationally.
While it remained unknown how much NOS they’d ingested, Coroner Bates said Otufangavalu and Love-Mitchell were seen with deflating green balloons an hour before the crash.
Then, “immediately” beforehand, the trio all had inflated balloons.
“The overall effect nitrous oxide was having on Ms Otufangavalu at the time of the collision depends on the number, size, and proximity of doses she consumed, which will remain unknown.
“However, the totality of the evidence satisfies me that Ms Otufangavalu‘s driving ... was significantly impaired due to her use of [NOS] and potentially exacerbated by her use of cannabis.
“Due to the inherent risks, the operation of motor vehicles is meant to be reserved for those who are qualified and approved to do so, and who understand the importance of operating them free of impairment due to substance use.”
Bates added that there was also responsibility on other people to step in when they know someone is unfit to drive.
“When a person is impaired through substance use, others around them aware of that fact must do everything practicable to prevent them from operating a motor vehicle.”
He extended his condolences to the family and friends of all five victims.
Belinda Feek is an Open Justice reporter based in Waikato. She has worked at NZME for 10 years and has been a journalist for 21.