Grant Organ lost control of his car, before he ‘fishtailed’, and crashed into tree, killing wife

Grant Organ lost control of his Holden before rotating 130 degrees and crashing into a tree on State Highway 23, just west of Whatawhata, in August last year. Photo / File

A day out to go and watch a soccer game turned to devastation for a family after a man lost control of his car, fishtailed, and crashed into a tree, killing his wife.

Grant Henry Organ told police he was going around a bend on State Highway 23, out to Raglan, when his Holden “fishtailed”.

“I slightly overcorrected it and it got worse.

“It started to go, and I thought ‘oh’, tried to pull it back in, and I came in a bit sharper, and it just went haywire after that.”

Organ‘s wife, Julia, 55, was sitting in the front seat and suffered severe chest and abdominal injuries and died at the scene.

This week, the 54-year-old appeared in the Hamilton District Court to plead guilty to a charge of careless driving causing his wife’s death on Saturday, August 9, 2025.

However, his counsel, Ashleigh Beech, asked Community Magistrate Ngaire Mascelle not to enter a conviction on the charge as she will file for a section 106 discharge without conviction at his sentencing, scheduled for next month.

‘Rotated 130 degrees before crashing into a tree’

The summary of facts states there were three generations of the family in the car that morning.

Julia Organ was in the front passenger seat, while their adult daughter was in the back seat along with her 9-year-old son.

It was 9.11am when they were travelling towards Raglan on SH23 just past Whatawhata, the weather was sunny, but the road was wet from intermittent rain.

Organ travelled up a hill, toward Ferguson Rd, and entered a moderate left-hand bend.

He then suddenly lost control, and the car slid sideways, crossing the centre line into the eastbound lane, rotating about 130 degrees before leaving the road.

The front passenger door side of the car smashed into a tree, where the car came to a stop.

The rear passengers were able to get out, but Grant Organ was initially trapped and only able to get out once a bystander forced open his door.

Witnesses and members of the public stopped and called emergency services.

The rear passengers were taken to hospital as a precaution but did not suffer any injuries.

Organ, who was on crutches when he appeared in court on Monday, suffered moderate injuries, including fractured ribs and vertebrae.

A serious crash unit investigation found the cause of the crash was Organ losing control of his car on the curve, and being unable to correct the car’s rotation.

His speed was unable to be established from the road and vehicle evidence, meaning that speed too great for the curve, under the conditions, could not be ruled out as being a contributory factor to the crash.

There was no definitive evidence of driver distraction, while the road, environment, vehicles or driver impairment were also ruled out.

Organ was remanded on bail until his sentencing.

Belinda Feek is an Open Justice reporter based in Waikato. She has worked at NZME for 11 years and has been a journalist for 22.