Jill Clendon holds dear the memory of cycling with her dad Tom Clendon, who died as a result of an accident while riding his bike in April 2022. Photo / Tracy Neal
Cyclist Tom Clendon loved to ride.
But a trip to the supermarket to buy supplies for his elderly wife’s morning tea party was sadly the last one he would ever make.
The retiree was riding his e-bike down a busy Nelson road last April at the same time motorist Aaron Taylor was dropping his daughter at school.
Taylor’s daughter had left a computer cable in the car and in his eagerness to get it to her he opened his car door just as Clendon rode by.
The 86-year-old, who had treated himself to the e-bike five years earlier, was wearing a high-vis vest and a helmet, but it couldn’t save him.
He was flung over the bike’s handlebars and landed on the road on his head and back.
Taylor responded immediately, dialling 111 and providing comfort to Clendon who, at that stage, was not showing signs of a fatal brain injury.
But the life of the beloved father, husband, mentor, grandad and former Air New Zealand industrial relations manager, who had been with the airline through the worst of times, including the terrible years of the Erebus disaster, was slowly ebbing away.
“At the accident site he had apparently been fine but he’d hit his head and there was a bleed in the brain,” his daughter Jill Clendon told NZME.
In the quiet early hours of April 10, having been taken off life support, he died in a room at Nelson Hospital, a week shy of his 87th birthday, with his daughter by his side.
Jill says her years as a senior manager in the health sector didn’t prepare her for the personal blow; the tragic end to a long and busy life that hit the family hard.
“We lost our dad and although he was almost 87, and you might expect people at 87 to die at some point sooner rather than later, you don’t expect them to die like that.
“He was out on his e-bike doing what he loved, but I don’t think that’s any consolation - the fact is he’s not with us any more and he probably could have been.”
Neither was the tragedy lost on those in the Nelson District Court, where Taylor was sentenced last Thursday, having admitted a charge of careless operation of a vehicle causing death.
Jill bravely read a victim impact statement on behalf of the family.
Community Magistrate Brigid Corcoran described the loss of Clendon, “a fit and healthy person who looked like he might live forever”, as being most significant for his wife Heather.
Tom had been her primary support as she aged. After the accident, she was moved into a supervised care environment, without the husband she’d had for 60 years.
“While Tom lived to a good age his death was unnecessary and that makes it harder to come to terms with,” Corcoran said in sentencing Taylor.
Jill said her family weren’t wasting emotion on being angry.
They want the pain and grief shared by both families to not be in vain.
“Aaron didn’t get up that morning with the intention of knocking someone off their bicycle,” she says.
“Regardless of how or what or who was at fault it’s had a huge impact on Aaron’s family and it’s had a huge impact on our family.
“What we want people to understand is the need for improved safety for cyclists and improved knowledge for both cyclists and drivers around the risks of car doors.”
Taylor had seen Clendon cycling on the road but it’s thought he might not have properly gauged the cyclist’s speed when he opened his door.
Jill, also an avid cyclist, believes her father’s cautious approach to riding on the road meant he was too close to the line of parked cars, as he tried to stay out of the line of traffic.
“That’s the way he always rode, despite my best efforts to say, ‘Dad just take the lane – ride down the middle of the lane’, but it takes a confident cyclist to do that.”
It’s also why the family asked for leniency in sentencing, following a restorative justice process. Taylor vowed to seek improvements to safety for cyclists and drivers, especially near Garin College where the accident happened.
Taylor’s lawyer, Dave Holloway, told the court it was a case made more tragic by the low level of carelessness with a devastating consequence.
Corcoran acknowledged the difficulty for all but was stern in her decision, which factored in Taylor’s history of driving offences including a drink-drive matter and another for careless driving many years ago.
She said the sad reality was that cases like this came before the court on a “reasonably regular basis”.
She said frequently drivers were careless and fortunately, no one suffered adverse consequences, but sometimes they did.
“What we are talking about here is an error of judgment on your part,”
“On this occasion, you failed to exercise care and attention and tragically Tom lost his life as a result.”
She convicted and sentenced Taylor to 40 hours of community work, disqualified him from driving for 10 months and ordered a $2500 emotional harm payment to the family.
As Taylor stood nervously in the dock with his parents seated nearby in the public gallery, Corcoran acknowledged his positive initiatives to improve safety, and ended with some sage advice.
“I am confident you will come through this in time.
“As I said, I acknowledge the pain and grief for you as well.”
Outside court, Jill said it was an accident that could happen to anyone and that nobody in the same situation could ever win.
It was now time to put the safety measures in place that she and Taylor were advocating.
Taylor was too shaken by the experience to say much, besides the fact he was glad it was over.
The 19-year-old disappeared without her wallet or mobile phone.