Motorist facing charges after carpark plunge
Male driver accused after female companion critically injured in York St accident
Police have laid charges against the driver whose car plunged off the fifth floor of a central Auckland carpark after an investigation into the accident which critically injured his female companion.
The 30- year- old woman was in the car with the man, 39, when it fell off the Newmarket Tournament carpark, in York St, on to another car below — narrowly missing two women inside.
Police confirmed the male driver, who was seriously injured, was due to appear in the Auckland District Court on January 19, charged with careless driving causing injury.
Meanwhile, Auckland Council has released the results of its subsequent safety audit into 26 of the central city carparks, including three managed by Auckland Transport.
Manager of building control Ian McCormick said staff first assessed the scene of the York St accident and found the wheel- stop at the park, from where the vehicle had fallen, was dislodged.
However, it wasn’t possible to ascertain if it had been fixed to the floor when the accident happened or if it was dislodged prior.
A number of other wheel- stops at the Newmarket carpark were also found to be loose. The cause was unknown.
Despite a “minimal” number of loose barriers, McCormick said “generally speaking” the audited carpark buildings were safe.
A number of other maintenance issues had been identified but he said these were “very minor”.
The most “notable” issue was the loose wheel- stops. These tended to be fixed with bolts or epoxied to the floor, with the latter most likely to have come loose.
Since March, McCormick said owners had been encouraged to ensure wheel- stops were strongly fixed and the carparking barriers were well maintained.
“We have identified the wheelstops and owners have gone through and addressed those and they’ve gone and checked other wheel- stops to make sure they were fixed to the ground.
“The three operators are inspecting their respective buildings to ensure compliance with the relevant standards that applied at the time and are also investigating the possibility of upgrading their buildings to the 2002 standards.”
The latest building standard for carparks, set in 2002, required a light barrier with a wheel- stop at each park. Prior to this, the standard set in 1992 stipulated a vehicle barrier was sufficient, in the absence of a wheelstop.
McCormick said there was not legislation to force building owners to upgrade their sites to the latest standard, but discussions were being held to see if they would consider it.
Future work would need to comply with current standards, not those at the time of construction.
He said Auckland Council was in the process of upgrading its carpark buildings to the 2002 standards, but that all three inspected had been maintained to a high standard and did not have any loose wheel stops.
McCormick did not believe it was necessary to implement changes to the regulations and carpark standards following the audit.
He said accidents were more likely to occur from driver error.