Coroner gives bouquet to quick-thinking florist

Bulls florist Susan Bowen has received a bouquet for her powers of observation and decisive action after a highway crash in which two people died.

The praise came from Levin coroner Phillip Comber, who conducted inquests into the deaths of Steven John Foster, 54, of Otaki, and 49-year-old Vivien Elizabeth Bartlett of Palmerston North.

Their cars collided head-on as they tried to avoid a vehicle that made a sudden lane change on State Highway 1 near Otaki last February.

The offending vehicle sped from the scene - but Ms Bowen followed, getting close enough to take down the licence number. She then pulled over and called 111.

Police took more than 90 minutes to reach Ms Bowen, by which time she had written a full account of the accident and the events that led up to it.

"The information you supplied was of considerable assistance to the police," Mr Comber told her.

He described the actions of the third driver involved in the accident as a sustained piece of bad driving that gave the crash victims no chance to escape.

Police said that thanks in part to Ms Bowen's work, the driver of the lane-changing car was traced and charged with two counts of dangerous driving causing death, one of failing to stop after an injury accident and one of failing to render assistance after an injury accident.

- NZPA