Driver pleads guilty to hitting cyclist
Tourist due to meet victim’s family
A CHINESE tourist who knocked a Canadian cyclist off his bike will probably meet the victim’s family in the next couple of days to express his remorse.
Wei Zhang (34) appeared in the Dunedin District Court yesterday where he pleaded guilty to careless driving causing injury over the incident in Portobello Rd on February 11.
As the defendant drove his hired Ford Transit camper van along the peninsula road towards Dunedin, he approached Bernard Gendron and his partner, Huyen Tran Thi Thanh, who were cycling in single file.
The court heard yesterday how Zhang passed the woman without incident but clipped Mr Gendron with his wing mirror after ‘‘failing to judge the available room’’.
The victim was catapulted over the handlebars and on to the road.
He suffered ‘‘serious, lifethreatening injuries’’, which included a traumatic blow to his brain.
The full extent of its consequences would not be known for some time, prosecutor Sergeant Adrian Cheyne said.
When spoken to by police after the incident, Zhang told them he thought he had left enough room and was unaware he had made contact with Mr Gendron.
Attending the court hearing was the victim’s 31yearold son, Marc, and his daughter Isabelle (29).
Marc Gendron told Judge Michael Turner his father was ‘‘pretty stable’’, although he was still being supported with feeding tubes and oxygen while in intensive care.
Discussions were being held between hospital representatives and Canadian Government employees about transporting Mr Gendron home in an air ambulance, he said.
The family had provided the court with a list of the costs they had incurred as a result of the collision but the judge said it was unlikely they would all be met.
‘‘We totally understand that,’’ Mr Gendron said.
Counsel Anne Stevens said her client was selfemployed and ‘‘not well off’’ — making about $40,000 a year.
He would spent the next few days organising the most substantial payment he could, she said.
A couple of days after the incident, Zhang arranged for a card and a fruit basket to be delivered to the hospital, the court heard.
Mrs Stevens said her client, who regularly did charity work in China, wanted to meet the family of the victim for a restorative justice conference before both parties left the country.
Sgt Cheyne asked that, despite the guilty plea, no conviction be entered against Zhang because of Mr Gendron’s still precarious health.
‘‘He’s not out of the woods yet, so to speak,’’ he said.
Zhang will be sentenced on Friday.
Judge Turner asked for an updated statement from the victim’s family and one from medical staff concerning Mr Gendron’s prognosis.
rob.kidd@odt.co.nz