Family of cyclist Jessica Moser, killed in a truck crash, calls for safer roads

Truck driver Daniel Christopher Powell, 37, of Pokeno, at Hamilton District Court today where he was sentenced for careless driving causing the death of Jessica Moser, 28. Photo / Belinda Feek

“You were careless in your truck that day when you killed Jessica. A young woman on a bike was no match for you, and to be honest, I don’t care what happens to you today.”

That was the message grieving grandmother Judy Atkins had today for the man who killed her 28-year-old granddaughter Jessica Moser at a Hamilton intersection in June 2022.

Atkins, who for the first time at age 73 was on anxiety medication after being diagnosed with PTSD, said it was impossible to try to put into words the devastation Daniel Christopher Powell’s actions had caused.

“You not only killed Jessica, but you destroyed my family.”

Moser’s distraught family was in the Hamilton District Court this afternoon for Powell’s sentencing on one charge of careless driving causing Moser’s death.

Moser was on her bike and preparing to go straight ahead at the intersection of Tristram and London Sts at about 8am on June 27, 2022.

Powell, who was stationed next to her in his truck, failed to check where she was before turning into her path, cutting short the life of a young engineer.

Her grandmother said today that Moser was “determined to make her way in a male-dominated industry” and she was “making a difference in this world”.

“Daniel Powell, you took that from her and us.

“She has left a hole in our lives that can never be filled.

“Jessica, I love you so much and will miss you forever.

“Daniel, I will never forgive you.”

Powell’s sentencing came on the same day another young female cyclist was left seriously injured after her bike and a truck collided at the intersection of Mill and Ulster Sts. Police are investigating the cause of that crash.

Pokeno truck driver Daniel Christopher Powell had never driven in central Hamilton before the crash that claimed the life of cyclist Jessica Moser. Photo / Belinda Feek

Victim was ‘highly visible’

Judge Garry Collin said Powell had just finished a delivery on the morning of the crash and was negotiating his way out of the CBD with the help of Google Maps on his phone, which was mounted on his dashboard.

The Eastern Earthmovers truck driver had seen Moser moments earlier near Ward and Bryce Sts, heading north, and “gave her a wide berth”.

Moser at the time was “highly visible”, the judge said.

At the crash intersection, Powell indicated to turn left, while Moser cycled up alongside him and also stopped for the red light.

When the light turned green, Powell began turning left, but Moser began cycling straight ahead and they collided.

Inspecting Powell’s truck, police discovered the indicator on the left-hand side of the truck was not working.

“There was no marked lane or waiting facility [for a cyclist], which is probably a roading error,” the judge said.

“It’s accepted that down the side of the truck, there’s a blind spot and that by looking in the mirror, he would not have been able to see Jessica.”

Police at the crash scene at the intersection of Tristram and London Sts near Seddon Park in Hamilton. Photo / Mike Scott

‘Her pain is overwhelming’

Moser’s aunty, Sheena, said her sister, Kim, Jessica’s mother, not only lost her daughter in the crash, but her “best friend in life, and it’s destroyed her”.

Watching her sister grieve was “the most painful thing to witness”.

“Her pain is overwhelming,” she said.

She also told Powell he could have saved the family a lot of grief if he had pleaded earlier.

Jessica’s wife, Briar, told Judge Collin that she wanted to see more safeguards installed around the city for cyclists.

“I do strongly believe that we are not individuals moving through society alone.

“I think we all have an obligation to help each other so we can create a better world for everyone ... my main request out of this process would be to have some safeguards for safer cycling.”

Judge Collin accepted that Powell, who has been a professional driver for 17 years, had no previous convictions but had accumulated six infringement notices, four of which were for speeding.

However, he said that “could not be considered bad in any way at all”.

Powell had also attended two restorative justice conferences, one with Moser’s mother and one with her wife.

His counsel Rhiannon Scott urged the judge not to disqualify him from driving and instead issue a reparation order of $5000 as the sole penalty.

While Judge Collin eventually agreed not to disqualify him, which would have led to Powell losing his job, he instead sentenced him to 240 hours’ community work and ordered him to pay $10,000 emotional harm; $5000 to be paid within seven days and the remainder at $50 a week.

‘We need safer roads’

Speaking to NZME after the hearing, Moser’s mother Kim called for change.

“We need safer roads. I believe the sentence today will not bring change.

“Jessica should have arrived safely at work.

“If our children are important, then we as a society must ask more of our trucking companies, council planners, NZTA, and justice system,” she said.

“Change is needed or our loved ones will continue to die.”

She said she was also convinced that if the truck’s left side indicator was working her daughter would still be alive today.

“She would be alive, that’s 100%.”

She called for proper cameras to be installed on the side of trucks so that drivers can see cyclists.

Belinda Feek is an Open Justice reporter based in Waikato. She has worked at NZME for 10 years and has been a journalist for 21.