Pedestrian hit by ute, thrown 24m

A man speeding down a central Hamilton thoroughfare hit a woman crossing the road, striking her with such force she flew 24 metres through the air before hitting the ground.

That man, Peter James Napier, 61, of Waiuku, admitted a charge of dangerous driving causing the death of his victim, Shiqing Li, when he appeared in the Hamilton District Court yesterday .It was just before 6pm on March 30, 2022 when Napier was behind the wheel of his Ford Falcon utility, travelling through the city.

As security camera footage shows, he was heading east over the Whitiora Bridge at a speed of 67kph.

As the agreed summary of facts on the case records, the road surface at the time was dry. The sun was setting, but it was still light, and the traffic flow was “moderate to heavy”.

Napier was closely following a Suzuki Swift over the bridge, which he accelerated past in the left hand lane, before switching quickly back to the right hand lane in front of the Swift.

But up ahead Li was attempting to cross the two east-bound lanes towards a pedestrian island in the centre of the road.

She managed to get across the first, lefthand side lane but was struck head-on by Napier in the middle of the right-hand side lane. Such was the force of the impact, her body became airborne for an approximate distance of 24 metres, before landing on the road in the left hand lane.

Her injuries were unsurvivable and she died at the scene.

When spoken to by the police, Napier said he reckoned he had been travelling at between 60 to 70kph at the time of the collision.

He told police Li had stopped in the middle of the two east-bound lanes and he had accelerated to get past her, but she had stepped in front of his ute and a collision was unavoidable. He only applied the brakes once he had hit her.

Napier, who was represented in court by Shayne Lawrey, was convicted by Judge Glen Marshall, who remanded him on continued bail to re-appear for sentencing on July 17.

The charge of driving dangerously causing death comes with a maximum penalty of 10 years imprisonment or a fine of up to $20,000.