'Lovely guy' dies in bike crash

Bill Titmus died when his motorbike hit a 4WD yesterday. Photo / Michael Craig

A motorcyclist who had just finished building his classic bike was killed yesterday trying to avoid a car at a notorious intersection.

Blair Titmus swerved to miss a car which had pulled on to Hobsonville Rd in West Auckland. But he collided with the car, and his Moto Guzzi slid and hit an oncoming 4WD, witnesses said.

Titmus, who lived locally, died at the scene.

His partner Donelle Lawson said: "He was a really lovely guy, loved his bikes."

He got the bike just before Christmas and had only just finished building it from scratch.

"He wouldn't have wanted to go any other way. But just not today."

Lawson said they had been friends for years and had been in a relationship for a short time - "not nearly long enough".

A witness who was across the road at a car sales lot said the motorcyclist sped up in an unsuccessful attempt to avoid the silver car but it didn't look like he was speeding.

"I heard the bang. It wasn't as big a bang as you would have thought given the mess."

The crash site, at the intersection with Ockleston Rd, was "the absolute worst", Henderson-Massey board chairwoman Vanessa Neeson said. "It has been ignored."

Neeson said every time drivers turned right on to Hobsonville Rd they took their life in their hands.

"It's so busy people are taking chances and trying to duck out on to the road."

Neeson said the former Waitakere City Council had "begged" the New Zealand Transport Agency to make the intersection safer for at least six years.

"They haven't taken care of it at all. They could have put up temporary lights, it would have been $20,000 to $30,000. What cost is a life?"

NZTA Auckland media manager Ewart Barnsley said the agency was building new lanes that would alleviate traffic congestion and make the road safer.

He said: "We will investigate this crash and make any changes necessary that are recommended."