Joji Bilo (right) with his wife and two children. Photo / Supplied
Joji Bilo (right) with his wife and two children. Photo / Supplied
The driver of a truck that rolled down a hill at a construction site and killed a roadworker suffered brain damage after trying to stop the runaway vehicle.
Newly released details from the court of the tragedy describe frantic workers leaping out of the way as the truck barrelled down Wellington's Ngauranga Gorge, its park brake having failed, in March 2019.
Father of two Joji Bilo, 25, was killed.
Yesterday his family tearfully recalled him as a "fun, loving, hilarious" man at a sentencing for his employer, infrastructure and roading company Fulton Hogan Ltd.
Fulton Hogan has pleaded guilty to two counts of exposing individuals to risk of harm, but Judge Arthur Tompkins has reserved his decision on the sentence.
In the summary of facts, released to the Herald, WorkSafe detailed how the brake system in the truck had a known issue.
It was fitted with a Sanwa Seiki brake system. Park brakes of this type manufactured between 1993 and 2005 have an established risk, and warnings have been made about them in the past.
The truck (centre) can be seen still rolling down the hill behind a car. Photo / Supplied
A person was killed in Dunedin in 2010 after a park brake failed on another truck.
Upon finding out about the fault, Fulton Hogan replaced the affected park brakes in its fleet, but did not enforce the same rule on sub-contractors.
On the night in question, a group of contractors had gathered to mill and resurface the southbound lanes of the gorge.
The driver of the truck parked facing downhill. He did not put the truck in reverse gear or turn the wheel towards the bank, nor did he turn on the flashing beacon or hazard lights.
As soon as he got out of the truck, it began moving down State Highway One.
He chased the truck about 20-30m before he managed to get onto it, but as he attempted to get back into the cab he fell onto the road, seriously injuring himself. The truck was going about 45-50km/h.
Bilo did not see the truck coming down the hill towards him and was struck and dragged 20m. The site foreman saw the truck coming just in time to leap out of the way over the guard rail.
"[He] also saw that the runaway truck was heading towards workers. He ran down, yelling at the men that there was a truck coming," the summary said.
The truck missed them and entered the lane that was open to the traffic, collided with the median barrier and continued downhill. It came to rest about 750m from where it started.
The foreman ran to the truck and climbed in, thinking a person inside needed help. Meanwhile another worker tried to give Bilo CPR under the direction of a nurse who had been travelling past.
A victim impact statement written by the driver's sister said he blamed himself for Bilo's death and also suffered ongoing health problems, having sustained brain damage in the fall. He has been unable to work since.
Tests later showed the brake released every time the circumstances were recreated. A police crash analyst believed the vibration caused by the truck door closing was enough to release the park brake.
Judge Tompkins' sentencing decision will be released at a later date.
