A woman who died after her car collided with a heavy truck and trailer had driven more than 900km and not slept for 21 hours.
Diane Ruth Howse died from multiple injuries she suffered in a crash on the Waitahanui Bridge, south of Taupo, in the early hours
of April 17.
Yesterday at an inquest into her death, Wellington-based coroner Ian Smith heard how Ms Howse, 54, of Hamilton had driven about 900km in her ute in the time before her death.
She had left Hamilton on Monday April 16 just before 4am to travel to Wellington, where she spent the day, leaving about 8pm to drive back to Hamilton. The crash happened about 1.20am.
A statement from the truck driver said he saw the car on the wrong side of the road and braked before moving to the right to avoid a collision.
The road was dry at the time of the accident and there were no faults found in the road surface or either vehicle.
There was no indication of any braking or other evasive action being taken by Ms Howse prior to the collision.
Mr Smith said the incident was a salutary lesson that people can't drive when they are tired.
He said while there were several advertisements being run in the media showing the dangers of driving mistakes, he believed that if the public saw the real carnage from crashes like this one it would hit home much more.
- DAILY POST
