Krasimira Kraleva parked in a driveway and walked down to meet her client when "unbeknownst to her", coroner Alison Mills said, "the van starting rolling down the driveway towards her". Photo / Hayden Woodward
Krasimira Kraleva parked in a driveway and walked down to meet her client when "unbeknownst to her", coroner Alison Mills said, "the van starting rolling down the driveway towards her". Photo / Hayden Woodward
The coroner has issued a warning to motorists after ruling on the death of Krasimira Kraleva, who died when her van ran her over when she left the handbrake off.
Kraleva, 52, died from blunt force injuries to her torso on October 14, 2020, leaving behind two children and her husband, Svetlozar Kralev.
She was visiting a client in Massey in her capacity as a curtain maker and style consultant when she died.
Kraleva parked in a driveway and walked down to meet her client when “unbeknownst to her”, coroner Alison Mills said, “the van starting rolling down the driveway towards her”.
Kraleva, 52, died from blunt force injuries to her torso on October 14, 2020, leaving behind two children and her husband, Svetlozar Kralev. Photo / Hayden Woodward
“[It] knock[ed] her to the ground and trapp[ed] her underneath. [Kraleva] died at the scene as a result of her injuries,” Mills said.
The Accident Compensation Corporation (ACC) received 22 fatal injury claims where someone had been hit by a vehicle in a driveway in the nine years from 2013 to 2022.
There were 3648 claims involving a driveway in the same period. Driveway-related claims can also include someone falling in the driveway where the incident is linked to a vehicle.
The data was correct at the time it was taken from ACC’s database in January, however, as a claim can be lodged at any point after an accident, the figures could differ if taken at a different date.
During the coroner’s inquest, Kralev questioned witnesses on how a fully loaded van could have rolled without his wife realising.
Kralev also questioned how it could have stayed stationary for long enough on the sloping driveway for his wife to get behind it.
Krasimira Kraleva.
Senior Constable Gary Abbott, the crash investigator who arrived at the scene, told the coroner Kraleva was found with the van’s key next to her on the ground.
From the evidence, Abbott said, she left the van in drive and the handbrake off, removed the key from the ignition and walked to the back of the vehicle.
Abbott said an inspection of the van found there were no issues with the handbrake: “If you engaged it, it stayed on.”
Mills considered what recommendations to make to reduce deaths from similar circumstances.
“Ultimately, I consider it largely to be a matter of driver education,” she said.
“There are so many variables and ongoing changes to technology that I do not consider it practical to make specific technical recommendations.
Coroner Alison Mills, of Whangārei.
“I note the use of the handbrake is already included in the Road Code study guide published by Waka Kotahi [NZTA] and other learn-to-drive resources,” Mills said.
She considered recommendations made by the police’s Serious Crash Unit:
To educate drivers on using the right gear or applying the handbrake.
To fit all vehicles with technology stopping a driver from removing a key from the ignition without putting it in the right gear or applying the handbrake first.
And requiring an alarm to sound to tell the driver the handbrake isn’t on or it’s in the wrong gear if a key can be removed.
However, Mills said: “Many automatic vehicles ... allow the key to be withdrawn before the car gear-lever is in “park”.
“In addition, many vehicles these days do not even have an ignition key and it is possible to exit the vehicle with the key while the vehicle is still running.
“In older manual vehicles, however, it has always been possible to leave a car in ‘neutral’ and remove the keys without engaging the hand brake, so the problem is not entirely new,” she said.
Mills said it was easy for people to forget to do things “like engaging the handbrake” in busy situations or if they were distracted.
“I therefore simply remind people that:
“If you have an automatic gearbox, apply the handbrake first, then put it in P “park” prior to exiting your vehicle.
“If you have a manual gearbox, apply the handbrake then put the gearbox in neutral on flat ground, reverse if you are parked facing downhill, or first if you are parked facing uphill. If the handbrake fails, or it wasn’t applied tightly enough, the resistance from the engine will stop it rolling on the hill.
“In addition, if you are driving a car you are unfamiliar with, ensure you familiarise yourself with how it operates prior to driving.”
Raphael Franks is an Auckland-based reporter who covers breaking news. He joined the Herald as a Te Rito cadet in 2022.
