Intersection fears borne out by fatal crash

Outram locals called the intersection "an accident waiting to happen" and on September 17 last year they were tragically proved right.

A 17-year-old, driving his new ute on a restricted licence with passenger Jayde Cummings (15), ploughed through a stop sign on Church Rd West into Huntly Rd.

"Almost unbelievably", Judge Dominic Flatley said, 57-year-old Steve Macnee was passing east through the intersection at that exact moment.

The teenage driver was the only one who survived but was so concussed he was unable to remember much of the day’s events.

Judge Flatley told the Dunedin Youth Court at a trial last month that it was up to him to unravel the facts.

The defendant was charged with dangerous driving causing death but after hearing more than a week of evidence, the judge ruled the "serious failings" were not the driver’s.

The most important factor, he said, was a stop sign on the left side of Church Rd West that the teenager passed seconds before the collision.

The sign was so obscured by foliage that the driver might never have seen it, the judge said.

However, it was only a photograph from an Otago Daily Times photographer that proved that.

"Astonishingly, there were no photographs taken by police on the day of the accident of the intersection ... from the direction [the teen] was driving with the stop signs in view," Judge Flatley said.

Photos from the following day showed the foliage had been cut back but who did the impromptu trimming or why remained a mystery.

The court also heard the stop sign was quickly moved 40cm closer to the road to improve its visibility.

Comparing the ODT photo with police pictures from the following day indicated a "contamination" of the evidence, the judge said in his written judgement.

"I simply cannot be sure that [the driver] would have seen [the sign] and that is through no fault of his," he said.

While crash experts for the prosecution and defence could not concur on the speed at which the defendant was travelling — somewhere between 60kmh and 76kmh — they agreed it was below the 100kmh limit.

There were no tyre marks on the road and it was a strong possibility the teen continued through the intersection without even realising he was obliged to stop.

The trial heard from several witnesses who lived in the area, all of whom remarked on the dangerousness of the particular intersection.

On farmer called it "an accident waiting to happen" and said he had contacted the council numerous times requesting clearing of vegetation.

Also of note was the size of the stop signs on Church Rd West, Judge Flatley said.

Best practice dictated they should have been 90cm x 90cm when in fact they were 78% smaller.

The prosecution case was partly based on the assertion the teen driver had been on the wrong side of the road when he entered the intersection.

However, the judge said deciding that was an "imprecise science".

"The outcome was tragic but I cannot find without reasonable doubt that what happened here amounts to dangerous driving on [the driver’s] part," he said.

The defendant had earlier admitted careless driving causing death and is likely to be dealt with by the court next year.

rob.kidd@odt.co.nz