Death of cyclist adds to region's soaring toll

Photo / Herald on Sunday

A bus full of schoolchildren looked on as a cyclist passed them on the inside and slammed into the side of a truck that dragged him a short distance before he died.

The 57-year-old man died at a roundabout on the corner of Wairere Drive and River Rd in Hamilton about 2pm yesterday after passing the bus and crashing into the westbound rubbish truck that had the right of way.

His death is the latest in a run of road fatalities in the Waikato region. Four people have been killed in crashes since last Friday.

Waikato district road policing manager Inspector Leo Tooman said the cyclist passed the bus on its left side, and did not give way to the passing waste-disposal truck.

He said the bus was carrying Auckland schoolchildren who had been in Hamilton on an excursion.

"He (the driver) didn't wait around with the kids on board which is probably wise."

Mr Tooman said the cyclist would still be alive had he obeyed the road rules and took a safer attitude on his bicycle.

His death was another in the string of "completely avoidable" tragedies highway patrol officers had attended in the past few days.

"As far as I'm concerned all of the accidents we have seen in the past few days could have been avoided," he said.

"People really need to show a lot more patience and tolerance when they're on the roads. They really need to cut out the risky decisions they are making."

The man's death takes the number of cyclists killed on New Zealand roads to 12 in the past 12 months.

A series of coroner's inquests starting in July will look at ways of reducing the cyclist road toll.

The death also brings the Waikato road toll to 26 for this year compared to 24 for the same period last year

Meanwhile, police have named a man who lost control of his car near Morrinsville on Monday and died after crashing through a farm fence and into a tree.

He was 65-year-old Lodewyk Gerardus Johannes Janssen of Mangateparu.

Mr Tooman said police had attended nearly 20 vehicle crashes throughout Waikato between Tuesday and yesterday.

This year's national road toll is 116, against 180 at the same time last year.