Cycling Carnage On New Zealand Roads

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Any one who has been reading this blog on a regular basis knows that for a long time we've often highlighted New Zealand's shameful road death and injury record, one of the worst in the OECD.

One of the most vulnerable group of road users in New Zealand are cyclists and the rate at which they are being killed and injured is disgusting. What's worse, New Zealand is often promoted as a  safe cycling destination even though many tourists and visitors to the country continue to be killed by careless / drunken drivers. Many of those  drivers escape with light sentences that are often slammed as not being proportionate to their crime and not acting as a deterrent to others.

The cyclist killed on Tamaki Drive, Auckland yesterday afternoon has just been named as 27 year old British citizen Jane Mary Bishop. She died when she was hit by a truck whilst cycling along Auckland's waterfront outside of Kelly Tarlton's (see the stretch of road in the Google streetview above)

Police said she had swerved to avoid a car door. Our deepest condolences go out to her family and friends for their loss.

Her death came hours after three cyclists, travelling in a group of ten, were killed by a car in the Waikato that crossed the centre line whilst taking a corner. Mark Andrew Ferguson, 46, and Wilhelm Muller, 71, died at the scene and Kay Heather Wolfe, 45,  died this morning. Our thoughts are with their families.

Condolence to to the family of And with the family of Patricia Anne Veronica Fraser, 34,  who was killed in the Manawatu on Saturday while training for the Lake Taupo cycle race;and our very best wishes go 12 year old Jacqueline Wyatt, a pupil at Riverlands School, whom was run over by a truck this morning as she cycled to school on Main Street, Blenheim. She is critically ill in hospital.

Tamaki Drive Carnage
The road where Jane Mary Bishop lost her life was also the scene of the infamous ‘Tamaki Drive Carnage". 

A female student lost her licence for 6 months and was ordered to pay $1,000 to each of her victims after she ploughed into a pack of cyclists travelling along Tamaki Drive. The cyclists, one of whom suffered long term brain injuries and may never be able to work again, said that the sentence handed out was far too lenient.

A report in today's NZ Herald said

Ellerslie man John McLaren was also involved in a crash on Tamaki Drive last week.
He was in shock and suffering from a broken shoulder blade and collarbone when the motorist who forced him off the road confronted him with an angry lecture. Ms Bishop's death on the same stretch of road had him counting his blessings his accident was not worse.
"It's a sad event. All our thoughts should be with the family of the deceased."
He called for increased tolerance and awareness from motorists in the wake of the cyclist deaths. "The woman that died yesterday - if that person who opened their car door had just looked around things could have been different. If the guy had waited just 10 seconds for me to go over the bridge, everything would have been fine.
"It's awareness. That one bit of impatience could mean someone getting hurt or killed." Read the full report here, including a call for cycle lane

Lacks of awareness, education, consideration, understanding and/or substance abuse are common themes in these incidents. New Zealand, quite simply, isn't as safe as you'd like to think it is, cyclists risk their lives every time they venture onto a road. New Zealand drivers take no prisoners.
These are some of the cyclists we've blogged about in the past.

Stephan Stoermer, a German tourist, had been on a cycling world tour since 2006, he had been safely winding his way through 26 countries in Europe, the Middle East, Asia and Australia since early 2006 before arriving in New Zealand. He died a week before his tour was scheduled to end when he was hit by a logging truck near Te Puke in the Bay of Plenty on March 12, 2009. The driver fell asleep behind the wheel.

Jenns Richardon had been living in NZ for a few years was killed by a hit and run driver. His body was eventually discovered by a passing motorist. The killer pleaded guilty to  driving under the influence of alcohol causing death and failing to stop for an injury accident. He had drunk around 10 pints of beer at a bar in Rolleston from around 2.30pm that day. He told police he knew he had hit a cyclist but panicked because he had been drinking. The judge took pity on him a gave him a sentence of home detention.

Frank van Kampen was killed by drunk driver, 71 year old Alison Downer, who received  a lenient two year sentence for her 4th conviction after she hit and killed Frank as he was cycling along State Highway 1 in Te Horo.  Mr van Kampen’s partner wept through the hearing at Palmerston North District Court and said that she was disgusted by the sentence. Can you believe that Downer’s defence lawyer was alleged to have told the judge that “this was not the worst type of offending because there was only one victim.”

Graham Robinson, a North Shore doctor, was struck and killed whilst cycling outside of Helensville. The driver of a white Toyota Hillux sped off after hitting him and police have yet to track him down, despite having an excellent description of the vehicle.

Pia Pusch, a 19 year old German tourist, also died when hit by a logging truck as she cycled through New Zealand, she had previously blogged about the aggressive and intimidating driving habits of truck drivers. The driver pleaded guilty and was asked to pay $5,000 to her family.
Mia’s death sparked calls for mandatory minimum passing distances for vehicles overtaking cyclists – from between 1 to 1.5 metres, but all of them have been ignored.

A Facebook  group Mia Pusch - NZ cyclists mourn you was set up in her memory, an the group pushed for improvements in road safety.

Jane Bishop's death is a reminder that auckland, and New Zealand, still has a very a long way to go in improving road safety for all the users of its roads.

For more about New Zealand's dangerous roads and 'accident' black spots click HERE and our  
 ROAD CRASH DATA page

See also:
Cycling dangers in New Zealand – see posts tagged Cycling

New Zealand Herald’s Road Accidents Archive

New Zealand’s dangerous roads

NZ’s roads described as ‘killing fields’ after 14 fatalities over ANZAC weekend

67 Boy Racers Taken Off the Streets of Christchurch

Today's posts - click here

Other German Cyclists Killed In March and August. Stephan Stoermer And Jens Richardon

Today we were reminded that Mia Pusch wasn't the only German cyclist to have died in New Zealand in the last twelve months. Much the same as Mia, another German national was also killed by a truck and it was moving in the same direction as he was.

German tourist Stephan Stoermer  had been on a cycling world tour since 2006, he was winding his way through 26 countries in Europe, the Middle East, Asia and Australia since early 2006 before arriving in New Zealand. He died a week before his tour was scheduled to end when he was hit by a logging truck near Te Puke in the Bay of Plenty on March 12, 2009.

As if it was a portent of worse to come two months previously Police Superintendent Steve Fitzgerald, a road safety expert and National Commander of the Police Communications Centres, was killed when he was involved in a collision with a truck as he cycled home in Petone. At one time Mr Fitzgerald oversaw all NZ road policing operations and achieved significant and sustained reductions in road deaths and injury crashes. That same day, and in a separate incident, Des Eyre also died in Wellington when he collided with a truck.

Another German cyclist died on 6 August in a hit an run at Leeston, 45 km south west of Christchurch. 34 year old Jens Richardon (above, centre) had been living in NZ for a few years. He must have been quite familiar with the peculiarities of the roads and of the local driving habits. His body was eventually discovered by a passing motorist at 7.30pm and police located the offender's car, a dark blue BMW 3251, 20km away.

Slumped over bar
The driver of the car that hit him was seen slumped over a bar shortly before the crash. Phillip Kirkwood Hamilton, 40, of Southbridge, pleaded guilty on 6 November 2009 to driving under the influence of alcohol causing death and failing to stop for an injury accident. He had drunk around 10 pints of beer at a bar in Rolleston from around 2.30pm that day. He told police he knew he had hit a cyclist but panicked because he had been drinking.

He was remanded on bail for sentencing until 8 February and the judge ordered a pre-sentence report on his suitability for home detention, and a victim impact statement from the dead cyclist’s wife.


Home detention? for drinking a skinful and then killing another man?! it's an utter disgrace and is beyond belief. That would be an insult to Mr. Richardson's memory and will send a message out to the local community that if you drink, drive and kill someone you'll likely get off with little more than a slapped wrist. There should be zero tolerance for crimes such as these, it's important that justice is seen to be done.

Stephan Stoermer kept a blog of his journey which was completed for him after his death, here is a rough translation from the original German of the last entry: (link) 

"On 12 March 2009 he arrived at Tauranga Bay of Plenty. He got no further. He got no further. One on the same street in the same direction errant truck ran over him, just like that.

How do we learn from New Zealand in New Zealand is such a thing, more or less than normal: Cyclists must - if they do not want to be killed - to avoid any motor vehicle, no matter which way this comes out.

Niguel Short, author of the famous bike tour leader neuseeländsichen Pedall 'Paradise, writes in the introduction to Bicycle Tours in New Zealand at Relevant Traffic Laws:

    Cyclists should give way to cars and trucks ... or you may be run over!
    New Zealand might be a crank 'Paradise but it is not Utopia! Thus it might be worth investing in a mirror to keep an eye on the moronic drivers approaching from behind.

The Bay of Plenty Times reported on 17 March 2009 about the accident:

    Cyclist this week from one world tour finish
    17/03/2009 by Vicki Waterhouse
    The tourist killed after he was hit by a truck while cycling near Te Puke had been biking around the   world for the past three years and was due to fly home on Friday.
    The man was named today as Stephan Stoermer, 38, of Frankfurt.
    Mr. Stoermer died on the way to hospital after he was hit by a fully load logging truck on State Highway 2 near Te Matai Rd last Thursday night.
    Mr. Stoermer had traveled through 25 countries on his bicycle, throughout Europe, Asia, the Middle East and Australia.
    On his website he talked about being on the move all of his life, but not for the purpose of arriving at a destination.
    "I'm always looking for a new, different mode of traveling," he wrote.
    Mr. Stoermer began his journey in the northern hemisphere's spring of 2006.
    He said on his website he enjoyed touring the world on a bicycle because he always met people with whom he could tour for hours or days and had the most interesting conversations with them.
    On this three-year tour he was meeting people from various cultural backgrounds who shared his interest in cycling.
    He also sought to promote environmentally friendly travel and motivate people to use bikes.
    His website features hundreds of pictures of himself on the road in various locations.
    Senior Sergeant Ian Campion of road policing said Mr Stoermer's family in Germany had been notified of his death.
    Mr Campion said according to Mr. Stoermer's travel documents, he was due to fly out to Frankfurt on Friday after traversing 26 countries.
&nbsp0wA5oGRlTI/AAAAAAAAAI8/htDHt3C/span>He arrived in New Zealand on December 30 and had traveled the South Iceland.
    The Rotorua logging truck driver who drove the truck which hit Mr Stoermer has not been charged over the incident. Police are still investigating the collision.
    Mr Campion said it may be some time until the cause of the crash was determined.

This investigation will probably result hardly anything, since there are no surviving witnesses to give except the truck driver himself, who wrote Websklave in March 2009. That's not quite true anymore.  On 30 September reports Stephen Stormer-sister Ulrike Hertel, after receiving a detailed police report:

    In fact there were witnesses to the accident, and as a result of the investigation of truck drivers because of "reckless driving resulting in death is indicted."

Would you so much, since (insert a sentence or at least the old rauszunehmen) - simply because it is not true, and we otherwise the New Zealand police and their thorough work can not be met.

What the Websklave obviously likes to do.
Cremation in New Zealand
Stephen Stormer was posted on Saturday, 21 March 2009 at 11h30 cremated at the cemetery in Rotorua NZ. Michiel van Dijk and Anna Lim report on the book of condolence. You have set at the accident scene and a small compass to remember and evergreen. "

Stephan visited  Poland, Lithuania, Estonia, Latvia,Ukraine,Romania, Bulgaria, Turkey, Iran, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan, China, Laos, Cambodia, Thailand, Malaysia, Singapore, Indonesia, Australia and New Zealand on his journey.

Today's posts - click here