Witness claims van sped up before accident

The van after the incident. Photo / NZPA

A van accelerated through traffic lights before a pedestrian was hit on the Auckland waterfront at the weekend, a witness says.

The pedestrian, who is at Auckland City Hospital, was in a stable condition yesterday. The police serious crash unit is investigating the incident, which happened at 2am on Sunday outside the Ferry Building.

Stuart Ross, 32, was out with a friend and his partner Kate and were talking to the man, believed to be in his 20s, and his three friends before the accident.

Mr Ross said he remembers his group having to jog to get across the road safely.

"My account of it was he [the van driver] was accelerating through the lights.

"We started to walk across the road, saw the van and possibly another couple of cars coming towards us, so we started to jog. The guys behind us, we thought they were okay, then I heard a really loud bang.

"I turned around to see the young guy who was hit flying through the air. It was horrific."

Mr Ross rushed to the man and checked his vital signs.

"He wasn't breathing at first that I could hear but then he started breathing really laboured. I was just trying to keep him awake and alert."

The man dropped in and out of consciousness but by the time emergency services arrived he was trying to move himself from the ground.

Mr Ross said the men were not intoxicated, which is at odds with an earlier witness report which claimed the group were "smashed".

He hoped drivers would slow down around the area.

"We were trying to ascertain how fast he was going. Us having to run, him not slowing down one bit for seven people crossing the road is, I think, typical for New Zealand in the way our drivers drive, like they own the road."

Fullers chief executive Douglas Hudson said the driver was dropping the company's late-shift staff to their cars and was returning to the ferry terminal.

The driver was not at work yesterday but would return within the next few days, Mr Hudson said. It was a matter for the police to determine if the driver had been abiding by road rules at the time at the accident.

"At the moment, the focus is on the young [injured] man and his family and hoping he recovers."