Victim's partner: Listen to coroner

Stephanie Fox died in a car crash of SH1 north of Paraparaumu. Photo / Supplied

Justine Chalmers wants the coroner to recommend improving the safety of the road where her partner died - and is hoping roading authorities will listen.

Chalmers' partner Lance Kevin Rielly, 39, and his stepdaughter Stephanie Fox, from Titahi Bay, died on State Highway 1 just north of Paraparaumu on December 30.

Rielly had been overtaking a car at the end of a passing lane on State Highway 1 when he crashed head-on into another car, injuring a family of five.

Chalmers believes the pair would still be alive if a median barrier had been installed.

"If the coroner makes a recommendation about the barriers, I would like to think that the appropriate authorities would follow it through and I be kept informed by them," she said.

But that hope may be in vain. The Herald on Sunday reported last month that many coroners' recommendations were lost or ignored by the public bodies charged with making streets and highways safer.

Of 71 recommendations made by coroners investigating road deaths over the past five years, only 34 had been fully implemented. A further 13 were partly implemented and 14 not implemented due to the authorities disagreeing with the coroner or not having the funding. Eight other recommendations were never received by the authorities.

In four cases, the New Zealand Transport Agency and Auckland Council did not respond to questions about whether the recommendations had been implemented or not.

Chalmers said she was concerned coroners did not have more power.

"It does make me wonder if the coroner's recommendations are taken seriously, and I feel they should be followed through. After all, isn't that what coronial hearings are for?"

Chief Coroner Judge Neil MacLean wants to improve the way coroners keep track of recommendations. "It's an area we are still working on tightening," he said. "At the moment there is no requirement for authorities to respond to our recommendations, although a good number do."

Associate Transport Minister Chris Tremain said he was comfortable with how authorities were responding to coroners' recommendations and did not believe there should be more requirements regarding responses.

"The NZTA is constantly prioritising its spending," he said. "In saying that, it does treat coroners' recommendations very seriously and I will be keeping a close watch on it."

NZTA spokesman Andrew Knackstedt said the agency didn't receive eight recommendations. However, five of those roads had been investigated and some safety improvements put in place.

He said coronial inquests played an important role in the ongoing effort to reduce road deaths.

"In some cases, recommendations are adopted, in other cases the issues raised in recommendations may be addressed in different ways," he said. "It is also NZTA policy to conduct a road assessment following all fatalities on state highways, and the outcome of these assessments often results in issues being addressed independent of coronial investigations."