The crash occurred at the intersection of State Highway 8 and Muttontown Rd. Photo / Google
The family of a Central Otago man who died 25 days after his car was rear-ended by another vehicle say they will never come to terms with his loss.
Alan Leslie Weir, of Clyde, died on April 7 last year aged 77 and Cromwell man John Buchan Cole, then 78,
was charged with operating a vehicle carelessly and thereby causing injury to, or the death of, Weir.
Cole had been driving from Clyde to Alexandra on State Highway 8 on March 13 when Weir's car was waiting at the centre line to turn right into Muttontown Rd, Judge Michael Turner heard in the Alexandra District Court yesterday.
Cole did not see Weir's car, focusing instead on another car between them that turned left suddenly. Cole rear-ended Weir's car. Weir suffered six broken ribs and was in and out of hospital for several weeks. He subsequently died of respiratory failure.
A pathologist's report, by Dr Martin Sage, said the balance of probabilities showed the initial injuries Weir sustained precipitated his cause of death, Judge Turner said.
