KEY POINTS:
Friends and family of three motorcyclists killed in a crash are shocked that the man responsible was unlicensed and a repeat drink driver.
Police yesterday revealed that Gordon Manu Armstrong, 53, of Paengaroa had a long history of driving drunk and was indefinitely disqualified from driving in 2000.
Mr Armstrong died early yesterday in Rotorua Hospital.
He is believed to have been drinking the night before his car crossed the centre line near Rotorua and collided with motorcyclists Simon Joseph Short, 37, his partner Antoinette Purchase, 43, and their friend Leon Philip Mason, 33, all of Papamoa.
Mr Armstrong's 5-year-old son and two granddaughters, aged 7 and 8, were travelling with him and were also injured. They remained in a moderate condition in Rotorua Hospital yesterday.
Ross Saunders, a friend of the dead motorcyclists, said Mr Armstrong should never have been behind the wheel with his record.
"It just shouldn't happen, should it? At all."
It was hard to comprehend the offending or understand what to do about it. He called on family and friends to keep watch on their relatives and step in if they had problems.
Another friend, Robert Short, said it was unfortunate Mr Armstrong would not face court proceedings.
"It's just a shame he's died, really, so he can't live with what he's done."
Mr Short said the issue of repeat drink drivers needed to be addressed and he did not want his friends' deaths to be forgotten.
"It wasn't that long ago it was on TV, about these guys who just keep on repeat offending ... it's like society just gives up on them."
Ms Purchase's ex-husband Mark Purchase was angry a man with such a driving record was on the road.
"How was he ever out there bloody driving? I operate a transport company and that's just disgusting as far as I'm concerned.
"I've lost three friends, all in one day," said Mr Purchase, also a motorbike rider. "A woman I spent 20, 25 years with and ... two kids left with no mum."
Mr Armstrong had four drink-driving convictions spanning almost 20 years and had been driving without a licence for seven years.
"It makes you feel hollow," said Sergeant Brett Cooper of Rotorua's strategic traffic unit. "There seems to be this recidivist group of people that just don't think they are a problem."
Police did not have Mr Armstrong's blood or breath-alcohol readings from the convictions available yesterday, but Mr Cooper said he had never been jailed for drink driving.
Police were not able to speak with the 53-year-old after Sunday's crash, which left him with critical head and chest injuries, but information given to them suggested he had been drinking the night before.
Mr Cooper said alcohol took time to get through people's systems and drink drivers had blown twice the legal limit up to eight hours after they claimed to have stopped drinking.
A blood sample was taken from Mr Armstrong after the crash but results would not be available for at least 10 days, and the matter had now been referred to the coroner.
His injuries suggested he was not wearing a seatbelt but the three children in the car were restrained, which Mr Cooper earlier said was "a little bit of light in a very dark tunnel" as the car was also thought to be exceeding the 100km/h speed limit.
Mr Cooper said the deaths of Mr Short, Ms Purchase and Mr Mason - all "good, responsible riders" - were a tragedy, and the fact that alcohol and speed were likely factors left police feeling helpless.
"What can you do? Do you get out there and stop everybody and breath-test and close the roads. You just can't do that. People have got to take personal responsibility."
* Police have named a Tauranga man killed in a three-vehicle collision on State Highway 2 at Maungatapu on Monday. Aaron Jonathan James Mee, a 33-year-old property developer, died when his northbound Holden ute collided with an oncoming four-wheel drive, which was then struck by the car behind.
20-year habit
* Gordon Armstrong's first conviction for drink driving was in 1986, the next in 1997. He was convicted again in 2000 and 2004.
* In 2000, he was indefinitely disqualified from driving, meaning he could not renew his licence until he completed a mandatory disqualification period and drug and alcohol counselling.
* Although he finished the counselling, he did not renew his licence once the disqualification ended, and had driven without a licence since.
