Victim in river crash the son of veteran judge
The man who died when the car he was driving crashed into a Wairarapa river was the son of one of New Zealand’s longest-serving judges, and father to a 5-year-old daughter.
Ben Young, 35, is believed to have been thrown from his Holden Commodore when it crashed through a wire fence on a corner north of Masterton, hit a bridge and plunged into the flooded Waipoua River at 4am on Saturday.
Police confirmed yesterday that Young was the driver, and no charges would be laid. His death has been referred to the coroner.
His three passengers – two women and a man – remain in a stable condition in hospital, after being winched off the roof of the submerged car by the Westpac rescue helicopter.
Young, of Lower Hutt, is the son of former High Court judge Ron Young, who retired last year after 26 years on the bench.
Ben Young and his wife Carmin have a daughter, Maisie, who turned 5 in December.
The family declined to comment yesterday.
They have set up a tribute page for Young, on which he is described as ‘‘much loved by all his many friends and family’’. ‘‘He will be sadly and deeply missed by all.’’
A funeral will be held in Martinborough on Thursday, and the family are asking that, instead of flowers, donations be made to Life Flight Trust, which operates the rescue helicopter that went to the survivors’ aid.
Young’s business website, Landmark Homes Wellington, describes him as having a ‘‘great history of building beautiful homes’’ in the region, with a focus on workmanship and customer service. Workers at the office declined to comment.
Young was a member of the Hutt Valley Motorsport Club, and sponsored its Port Rd Street Sprint series.
On Facebook, club secretary Neil Rush offered the group’s condolences to Young’s family, adding that its members were ‘‘shocked and saddened’’ by the death.
‘‘Ben was a keen club member, loyal sponsor . . . and enthusiastic competitor. His loss will be deeply felt.’’
Acting Wairarapa road policing sergeant Shayne Nolan said police might seek to install crash barriers on the corner where the accident happened, which is between two long, straight sections of the Masterton bypass.
‘‘It’s very straight leading up to that corner, with a downhill component in the [southward] leadup to the corner as well.’’
However, that decision would depend on findings from the police’s crash investigation, which usually took several months, since barriers could potentially have made Saturday’s accident far worse.
Police had earlier said they believed speed was a factor in the crash and were determining whether alcohol was involved.
Another issue may have been last week’s bad weather, after an unusually dry autumn.
Two other crashes in Wairarapa at the weekend may also have been weather-related, showing it was time for drivers to adjust to the delayed onset of winter driving conditions, Nolan said.
Despite several accidents in recent years at the site of Saturday’s fatality, it wasn’t yet regarded as an accident ‘‘black spot’’, he explained.
A head-on crash just south of the bridge corner in 2013 killed a 23-year-old Masterton woman and injured her 16-year-old sister, but that was caused by an error committed by the other driver.
That driver later pleaded guilty to a charge of careless driving causing death and injury.
Improvements to the corner’s design could eventually be called for, but in the meantime police would continue a strong focus on enforcing the 100kmh speed limit on the Masterton bypass, Nolan said.