Death crosses that fraction of a second

By AINSLEY THOMSON

On a Saturday in April 1999, Ian and Heather Chisnall were taking their two teenage sons, Daniel and Royce, to the Miranda Hot Pools.

The Pukekohe couple, aged 44 and 45 respectively, died instantly when a car cut a corner on State Highway 2 near Mangatawhiri and hit them head-on.

The policeman who attended the smash, Constable Geoff Knight of Tuakau, said he had never seen such a badly smashed vehicle.

"It was horrific. The boys were in the back seat and it's a miracle they are all right."

A relative said the accident showed how unforgiving the stretch of road was - just a moment's inattention from the driver of the other car had caused the accident and left the four Chisnall boys, Daniel, now 18, Royce, 22, Alvin, 24, and Shannon, 27, without their parents.

"Cars are 1.5m apart doing 100km in opposing directions. It's a fraction of a second from a fatality anywhere along that road."

On August 10, 1998, Brendon Malcolm was driving home to Tauranga after spending a day in Auckland with his wife Claire and best friend Bryce Casey.

As he drove through Mangatawhiri a Ford Falcon coming from the opposite direction failed to take a corner, crossed the centre line and smashed head-on into Mr Malcolm's Corolla. Mr Malcolm, a 23-year-old fruit picker, died instantly.

Driving the Ford Falcon was former All Black and New Zealand sevens star Eric Rush.

Nearly six years later, Mr Malcolm's mother, Lorraine, said the pain was still fresh.

"People say you get over it, but all you can do is journey on and make the most of it."

Bryce Casey received serious head injuries in the accident.

"He can't get a full-time job," said Mrs Malcolm, "because he still gets tired and his concentration is not there. So I'm afraid Bryce's life has been ruined, too."

Rush was sentenced to the maximum community sentence of 200 hours, disqualified from driving for 18 months and ordered to pay $15,247 in reparation to Mr Malcolm's family.