Young driver was drunk, stoned, fatigued

The young driver of a car that crashed into a tree near Ruatoria, killing all six occupants, did everything wrong after an all-night party.

Kui Reedy, 23, was drunk, stoned on cannabis and tired when she piled into her small car with friends, cousins and her 2-year-old son on May 28.

Not one of them put on a seatbelt, and there was no child restraint for the little boy.

They set off along State Highway 35 from Te Puia Springs to Ruatoria, 16km away, but just five minutes short of their destination Reedy failed to take a gentle bend at Hiruharama.

She drove without braking into a tree in early morning fog. All six in the Honda Integra died instantly.

At a hearing in Ruatoria yesterday, coroner Hugh Hughes found that the five key factors in the crash were alcohol, cannabis, lack of sleep, speed in relation to the conditions and the fact that Reedy only had a restricted licence and had not proved her ability as a competent driver.

In his written findings, Mr Hughes said that despite strenuous campaigning against drink-driving and promotion of the use of seatbelts, some people "never learn".

The two words were typed in bold in his report.

Mr Hughes said the six died because they were not wearing seatbelts, adding that there were more people in the car than there were belts and that there was no proper child restraint for the little boy.

He told the Herald he had not made any recommendations because people could draw their own conclusions from the grim findings.

He said Reedy had a blood-alcohol level of 234mg of alcohol per 100ml of blood, almost three times the legal limit of 80mg.

She also had high cannabis levels of 18mg of THC, about the equivalent of smoking one cannabis cigarette in 1 1/2 hours

Mr Hughes said Reedy was travelling at about 90km/h at the time of the crash - too fast given the very foggy weather. He also drew attention to her lack of sleep, with evidence given at the hearing confirming that she had been partying all night, and he suggested she might have fallen asleep at the wheel.

The crash was thought to have occurred about 6am.

The impact instantly killed Reedy, her 2-year-old son Hamuera Braybook-Reedy, Tania Maraki-Reedy, 16, Hamuera Reedy-Harrison, 22, Toni Grace, 17, and Heni Tuhura-Walsh, 16.

They had all been at Tania's birthday party - she would have turned 17 the day after the crash.

The families could not be reached last night but have so far kept silent about the tragedy.

Land Transport Safety Authority spokesman Andy Knackstedt commented: "There's no point heaping blame on someone who's dead, but if it's needed again, this is an example of the consequences of doing all those wrong things."

He said the case showed why the police had to keep pushing road safety.

"You can never convince everyone to take the message on board. That's why you have to keep trying."

Mr Knackstedt hoped those who needed to would sit up and take notice of the serious consequences of such unsafe driving.