Tourist wishes he had died in car crash, not his mother

A tourist wishes he could trade places with his mother, who died when he failed to stop and drifted into an oncoming vehicle at an intersection in Manawatu¯ .

Vicky Sarin, 41, was sentenced in the Palmerston North District Court on Friday for careless driving causing Kusum Sarin’s death and injuring four others.

Sarin flew home to India only hours after his court appearance, where the judge disqualified him from driving for 12 months. He also ordered Sarin to pay $750 to the 16-year-old driver and sole occupant of the other vehicle in the crash.

Kusum Sarin, 63, died on December 28 when her son’s car collided with a 4WD at the intersection of Railway Rd and Roberts Line, near Palmerston North Airport. A passenger in the back seat, she died at the scene.

Vicky Sarin, a businessman from India, was touring the North Island with his family, having arrived in the country on December 20.

He had been driving along Roberts Line, where he was distracted by a railway crossing just before the intersection with Railway Rd.

Sarin told police there were no lights flashing at the crossing, so he slowed down and went through.

With his attention fixed on navigating the rail crossing, he failed to register the stop sign and intersection immediately following it, and drifted onto Railway Rd.

An oncoming motorist, driving a 4WD, was unable to react, and hit Sarin’s vehicle at high speed. The driver of the 4WD suffered only a swollen ankle and lacerations to his leg, while three of Sarin’s family were taken to Palmerston North Hospital, two with serious injuries.

Judge Gerrard Lynch said there was no penalty he could impose that would hold Sarin more accountable than he had himself.

‘‘Mr Sarin blames himself and has said, over and over, he wishes it was him and not his mother who was killed. This has been an unbearable pain. That loss and your guilt will be difficult to bear.’’

Defence lawyer Simon Parsons said Sarin’s car was wired with a GPS, which showed he had taken regular breaks while driving. ‘‘This is a lapse in perception.’’ Sarin was on an international license but he wasn’t unfamiliar with New Zealand roads, having visited in 2016 and 2017.