Family despair that driver could cause second cyclist’s death
The family of a cyclist killed by a careless truckie 11 years ago are ‘‘disgusted’’ he was allowed back behind the wheel – only to kill again.
Yesterday, Christchurch District Court Judge Gary MacAskill found David Peter Connell, 51, failed to recognise he had to check his blind spot. Taiwanese cyclist Ming-Chih Hsieh, 33, was killed instantly when Connell swung left, crushing him beneath the wheels of the large B-train articulated truck at the corner of Carmen and Waterloo roads in Hornby on September 29, 2014.
Connell had pleaded not guilty to the charge of careless driving causing death at a trial in June.
Judge MacAskill said the charge had been proved and scheduled sentencing for October 11. It was the second cyclist death Connell was responsible for after he crashed a truck into Stephen Craig Avery on State Highway 1 on the Kapiti Coast in 2005.
Connell admitted a charge of careless driving causing Avery’s death. He was fined $2000 and disqualified from driving for nine months.
Lesley Avery said she hoped Connell was never allowed in a truck again after the deaths of her brother and Hsieh. ‘‘I was disgusted, absolutely disgusted in the people that hired him that let him get behind the wheel, supposedly knowing that he had killed someone. We never got an apology from him, nothing.’’
Her brother’s death ‘‘ripped our family to pieces’’, she said.
‘‘To find he has not got away with this one, it’s absolutely fantastic.’’
Avery’s father, Warwick, was ‘‘relieved’’ to hear Connell had been found guilty. ‘‘It’s such a shame that someone had to die from the same negligence that killed Stephen. How can one person do that twice? It sounds so bizarre.’’
Leif Blair Transport director Leif Blair said he had been advised not to comment.
The Crown will inquire about whether a restorative justice meeting should take place with Hsieh’s family. Because the family is in Taiwan, it may take place over an online video-link.
Crown prosecutor Claire Boshier said at the trial the truck had ‘‘significant blind spots’’ and, even with his mirrors, Connell had a limited view of the left-hand side of the road.
Judge MacAskill said Connell was a professional and experienced driver of heavy vehicles.
‘‘He was very familiar with the tractor unit and was aware of its blind spots or blind zones. When the green light showed, he was aware that he did not know whether there was a cyclist in the cycle lane. Yet he took no precaution against that risk – none at all. It did not occur to him to wait for a few seconds. He ought to have known that this option was available to him.’’
A reasonable, careful driver would have responded to the risk by waiting a few seconds to be sure there was no unseen cyclist in the cycle lane and the way was clear for him to turn left, the judge said.
Connell was careless by failing to ‘‘perceive, identify or prioritise the risk to unseen cyclists in the blind spot’’.
He had relied on looking in mirrors when he knew they did not cover the blind spots.
When he pulled up at the intersection, Connell stopped ahead of the limit line for his lane, which aggravated the risk of failing to see a cyclist.
‘‘The Transit New Zealand photographs show that, if the defendant had waited for even a couple of seconds, Mr Hsieh would have come into his view,’’ Judge MacAskill said. ‘‘The defendant’s carelessness caused Mr Hsieh’s death.’’
The judge said it was not necessary, appropriate or practical for the court to define the appropriate waiting time for all vehicles in these circumstances, because it depended on the circumstances of each case and the extent of a vehicle’s blind spots. He found Hsieh was not ‘‘contributorily negligent’’ in failing to take reasonable care to protect himself.
‘‘To find he has not got awaywith this one, it’s absolutely fantastic.’’ Lesley Avery, victim’s sister