A Wellington family have won their three-year battle to clear the name of their son, who died when his Mack truck crashed in the northern Manawatu.
Horrified by a police report which blamed Dale Herlihy's death on his falling asleep at the wheel, his Wellington-based father and mother, Tim and Cheryll Herlihy, and brother Glen spent thousands of dollars on lawyers and road accident experts to investigate the crash.
Now Marton coroner Douglas Evans has found the main cause of the September 1997 accident was a worn rear suspension.
This, combined with a series of curves on State Highway 1 just before the crash site near Marton, 37km southeast of Wanganui, caused "directional instability" to the truck and B train.
Mr Evans said it could not be absolutely ruled out that Dale Herlihy had fallen asleep but he would make no finding on that possibility.
But the coroner's finding has been challenged by Greg Bradford, the lawyer for truck owner Andrew Drinnan. He said yesterday that he had asked the Solicitor-General to order a second inquest. Mr Bradford could not comment further.
Yesterday, Tim Herlihy said the finding had exonerated his son, who at 29 had been driving big trucks for 12 years. "I knew Dale had not fallen asleep. He was a conscientious driver who wouldn't have driven if he wasn't up to it."
He said a suggestion at the inquest that Dale might have been unwell was also wrong.
Mr Herlihy said police and Occupational Safety and Health had also ignored notes in Dale's logbook and a copy of a letter to Mr Drinnan saying the truck was faulty.
At the inquest, the Herlihys presented evidence from crash investigators David Malcolm and Chris Marks that, after studying the accident scene, they found driver inattention was "quite impossible."
The worn suspension parts were found by vehicle testing inspector Brian Hill.
Mr Evans said a two-weekly inspection of Mr Drinnan's trucks in his workshop had not picked up the worn suspension parts. However, Occupational Safety and Health and the Land Transport Safety Authority found the workshop's maintenance regime to be adequate.
He recommended suspension wear be part of regular truck maintenance by trucking firms and if that was beyond their regular maintenance then it should be contracted out.
A checklist of work done should also be kept.
- NZPA
Parents jubilant at clearing of dead son's name
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