The inquiry, before Coroner Marcus Elliott at the Dunedin District Court, began yesterday with a summary of the facts underpinning the case.
A teenage driver – who was later granted permanent name suppression – was driving his new ute in Church Rd West with his passenger 15-year-old Jayde Cummings on September 17, 2019.
He failed to stop at the intersection with Huntly Rd and drove directly into Steve Macnee (57), who died at the scene along with the girl.
The lack of skid marks on the road raised the possibility the teen driver had not seen the stop signs at the intersection because of overgrown foliage.
At the heart of this week’s inquest will be the signage, road markings and vegetation at the site – the ultimate responsibility of the Dunedin City Council (DCC).
Council general manager of infrastructure services Simon Drew – who broke down in tears at one stage, prompting a brief adjournment - accepted under cross-examination that the bush encroachment was an issue.
“It did not meet our specifications,” he said.
There were two complaints about the overgrown vegetation in the 17 months before the crash, both of which were investigated and found to be without merit.
One communication, just three months beforehand, resulted in a council staffer visiting the site, driving repeatedly through the intersection and taking photos.
He recommended no action be taken at the time but told the court yesterday that he was not necessarily viewing things through a road-safety lens.
Had he repeated the visit now, he would have done “much more”, he said.
Mr Drew, though, said the staffer's work could not be criticised.
“He was sent out to look at the vegetation encroaching on to Huntly Rd and he did just that,” he said. “He did exactly what he was asked to do.”
The inquiry heard yesterday that the stop signs at the intersection were smaller than recommended, too far from Huntly Rd and the painted road markings were faded.
The problems were re-emphasised by a judge during the Youth Court proceedings which saw the ute driver receive an absolute discharge after admitting two charges of careless driving causing death.
Mr Drew accepted there were “red flags” regarding the safety of the site.
Counsel for the Cummings family Nikki Pender asked why were the undersized stop signs were only replaced more than two years after the incident.
Mr Drew said it was not cost effective to make improvements on an ad-hoc basis.
“What we wanted to do was look at all intersections and package them up into a volume of work to deliver it more efficiently,” he said.
On October 6, 2021, the Otago Daily Times highlighted the issue of the undersized sign.
A week later it had been upgraded.
“So council can react quickly when it wants to?” asked Ms Pender.
“Yes,” said Mr Drew.
He accepted the improvements had been forced through because of the adverse publicity.
“Ultimately we accelerated that work because of media coverage and public perception,” he said.
“Staff found it really challenging. I found it really challenging. It’s not easy being a public servant.”
Mr Drew said the DCC had reflected on how it could manage vegetation from private property encroaching onto public roads and had taken steps to strengthen monitoring inspections to identify such issues.
The inquiry continues.
