Near-miss at 200km 'shocks' boy racer

Young street-racer Sasha Michael James Lister was so shocked when he almost hit another car while driving at some 200km/h that he hadn't driven since, the Napier District Court was told yesterday.

The tragedy almost happened when 20-year-old Lister, who was following two other racing cars, passed an off-duty senior sergeant on the Hawkes Bay Expressway about 10.30pm on July 29. It was half an hour before a high-speed crash which killed four teenage boys in Hastings.

In a summary, policeman and witness Tony Dewhirst said the first two northbound cars rocketed past at an estimated 180 to 200km/h when there was about 200 metres to the nearest oncoming vehicle.

The gap was down to less than 100 metres when the vehicle driven by Lister passed, forcing the oncoming driver to brake heavily, causing his vehicle to skid to the side of the road.

Interviewed by police two days later, Lister said he had been trying to catch-up with the other two cars. He had been ticketed for speeding earlier in the day, and had only just finished a period of disqualification from driving.

Mr Dewhirst said no one would have survived had the vehicles collided.

Defence counsel Christina Riddell said Lister had learned a "very heavy lesson". He had driven home in shock and had not driven since.

Judge Michael Hobbs said it was the sort of driving which "horrified" other motorists, and fined Lister $750, with court costs of $130, and disqualified him from driving for 12 months.

- NZPA