Field trip crash: Charges against teacher dropped

File photo / NZ Herald

A Karamea schoolteacher who crashed a van while driving his students on a field trip has had the charge against him dropped.

Patrick James Donovan, 43, was charged with careless driving causing injury after the van he was driving slid off the road and into a bank near Glass Eye Creek on June 3 last year. He appeared for a judge-only trial in Westport District Court yesterday.

He and four 15-16 year old students from Karamea Area School were on their way to a rafting field trip in Greymouth when the crash happened about 7am. The van veered off the road and hit a bank near Glass Eye creek, about 30km south of Karamea.

The students were trapped inside for around 45 minutes before firefighters cut them free.

Donavan's lawyer Eymard Bradley said Donovan accepted he had caused injury to one of the students but did not believe it was his fault. Donovan believed the van left the road after hitting a patch of black ice. He therefore maintained his not guilty plea, Mr Bradley said.

The area of road was windy and it was a particularly cold morning so Donovan was travelling to the conditions, he said.

Four students gave evidence for the prosecution. They said it was a cold day and Donovan was driving normally.

Two students described the vehicle sliding, as if on ice, as it went down the steep corner.

Senior Constable Alan Kees gave evidence that he arrived at the scene soon after 8am. The 1997 Toyota Hiace had extensive damage to its front left hand side, he said. Its left windows were also smashed.

He had attended two accidents on that corner in his 20 years as a policeman in Karamea, he said. That stretch of road was very windy and locals knew to take extreme caution there, particularly when it was frosty.

Mr Kees said he noticed some patches of frost on the sides of the road leading up to Glass Eye Creek, but was unconvinced there had been black ice on the corner when the crash happened.

Mr Bradley said he didn't think the police had proved their case. Judge Tony Couch agreed. He said the police evidence did not satisfy him beyond reasonable doubt. While the evidence suggested something unusual had happened, it was far from clear what had caused the crash.

"At this stage I would have to say there is not case to answer for."

He dismissed the charge.