The Ministry of Transport should consider a rule change, requiring semi-trailers to be fitted with protective "under-run" devices, following the death of a Dunedin man in a collision, a coroner says.
Richard Gordon Harley (27), an electrician from Mosgiel, died when the van he was driving collided with a heavy truck and trailer unit on Dunedin’s Southern Motorway on May 23, 2017.
Dunedin coroner David Robinson found the cause of death was a "massive" head injury and other injuries sustained in the crash.
Mr Harley had been driving up Saddle Hill heading towards the city when the accident happened about 10.30am.
A truck and semi-trailer unit in front of him, in the motorway’s middle lane, had slowed to allow a log truck ahead of it to merge into the middle lane from the left lane, which was about to end.
As the truck ahead slowed, Mr Harley tried to change into the right lane to overtake both trucks ahead.
However, he failed to notice another car already in the right-hand lane, and collided with it, Mr Robinson found.
The other driver was able to maintain control of their vehicle, but Mr Harley braked, swerved left and then collided with the steel trailer deck of the truck ahead.
The primary cause of the accident, accepted by Mr Robinson, was Mr Harley’s failure to check for other traffic before attempting to overtake.
His fatal injuries were caused by the intrusion of the corner of the trailer into the van’s driver compartment.
Police noted trucks towing semi-trailers were not required to be fitted with a rear underrun protection device.
However, if one had been fitted, it "would likely have prevented the semi-trailer deck intruding as it did in this instance".
Mr Robinson recommended the Ministry of Transport consider a change to land transport rules, to require such devices on the rear of semi-trailers.
The ministry responded, acknowledging international research suggested the devices could have safety benefits — particularly for the occupants of light vehicles — but unique factors facing New Zealand’s vehicle fleet made it harder to extrapolate experiences overseas.
In particular, New Zealand’s large forestry and dairy sectors meant a "relatively large percentage" of the heavy vehicle fleet was required to drive off-road for part of their journeys.
Issues of ground clearance and the potential for damage mean the cost of installing and maintaining underrun protection devices ‘‘higher than in other jurisdictions’’.
Despite that, the ministry would consider whether to gather more data as part its 2020-21 work programme, as well as looking at other safety technologies, it said.
Mr Robinson thanked the ministry for its response but confirmed his recommendation.
