Family want criminal charges over bus death

The family of a man killed when a flying wheel smashed through a bus windscreen are upset that the police have chosen not to lay criminal charges.

However, the Department of Labour has laid charges.

Xuan Lam, 24, suffered fatal head injuries when two wheels came off a Toll Tranzlink truck travelling on Auckland's Southern Motorway on January 14.

One of the 80kg wheels crossed the centre line and slammed into the bus, which was going in the opposite direction.

The accident left Mr Lam brain dead. Family members made the decision to turn his life support off a few days after the accident.

Police said yesterday that the investigation was now complete and no criminal charges would be laid.

Sergeant Stu Kearns, of the Waitemata serious crash unit, said: "[The case] has now been referred to the Department of Labour for actioning, which has brought charges."

But the family of Mr Lam - a Vietnamese national who was studying English - say they are upset atthe police decision not to lay charges.

A cousin of Mr Lam's, Dylan Tran, said the developments in the case were "no good".

"Hell no are we happy," he said. "Put it this way, we're too upset to even talk about it - just totally gutted."

At the time, Mr Tran said his cousin's parents were too overcome by grief to travel to New Zealand and the body had been flown back to Vietnam.

"He didn't deserve this," Mr Tran said.

In a statement released yesterday, the Department of Labour confirmed that it had decided to lay charges under the Health and Safety in Employment Act after completing its own investigation.

The department said details of the charges and the names of those involved would be made public at the Pukekohe District Court on August 18.

- additional reporting Rachel Tiffen