A Northland mother who drank 18 premixed vodkas, then drove while still impaired the next morning with her two children in the backseat is living each day with the death of her six-year-old.
It was December 22, 2017 and Marino Wikaira's then two-year-old was in a child car seat, while her six-year-old daughter was in the middle of the back seat with just a lap belt.
Wikaira was exceeding the 100km/h speed limit on a road in Kaikohe when she took her eyes off the road to check on her children in the backseat but lost control, veering into the opposite lane and crashing into a bank.
Her toddler survived but her daughter, Joshwyn Reihana-Ruka-Wikaira, died at the scene.
Coroner Ian Telford said the "don't drink and drive" message does not go far enough and has made recommendations to agencies to increase public awareness of the risk of driving "the morning after".
"At its heart, this is a profoundly sad situation in which a whānau has lost a six-year-old child, cherished by many. I am deeply mindful of the distress and grief still felt by Joshwyn's whānau and do not wish to add to their pain and suffering," he said.
"However, I believe it is important to draw every possible lesson from this highly preventable tragedy."
Wikaira was found to more than the legal limit of alcohol in her bloodstream the day of the crash, as well as THC — the active ingredient in cannabis.
She was also driving on a learners licence without a supervisor and had four previous infringement offence notices.
In July 2018 she pleaded guilty to aggravated careless driving, causing death while under the influence and the following year was discharged without conviction after taking part in restorative justice through the rehabilitative Matariki Court in Kaikohe.
Coroner Telford acknowledged her "considerable regret, shame and remorse" and that she had completed her restricted driver's licence and undertaken alcohol and drug counselling.
"I consider alcohol intoxication and its effects (and possibly cannabis), fatigue, and excessive speed to be contributing factors in the crash that led to Joshwyn's death.
"It is also apparent that Joshwyn not being properly restrained in the car directly contributed to her death," he said.
"At the age of six, she should have been in car seat. Had she been properly restrained, the injuries Joshwyn sustained in the crash may well have been survivable."
Coroner Telford said it highlighted the fundamental importance of children being properly restrained while travelling in vehicles — a child aged six should be in a child car seat.
"Never travel with children in a vehicle unless they are properly restrained."
Coroner Telford made wide-reaching recommendations to the New Zealand Transport Agency (NZTA), police and Health NZ, based on expert advice from professors at Massey University.
"The key messages from these factors in Joshwyn's case go beyond the usual — and still vitally important — "don't drink and drive" advice often highlighted by coroners and others such as NZTA," he said.
"I also want to highlight the often overlooked and less obvious risks of driving the morning after heavy drinking.
"This includes the possibility that you might be still intoxicated, as well as the alcohol disrupting your sleep and causing fatigue. This combination of intoxication and fatigue significantly increases the danger to drivers, passengers, and other road users."
Coroner Telford said although it had become less socially acceptable to drive after drinking, there remained a worrying trend in drivers considering themselves safe to drive the morning following drinking, especially after some sleep.
He noted public campaigns to disuade people from drink-driving played a significant role in reshaping social norms, but "have left a gap in the public understanding of the 'half-life' of alcohol in our systems, with many consumers unaware of the potential for drink-driving to occur the morning after drinking".
He cited research that found 87% of Australian female drivers would not drive if they believed they were drunk, yet half would drive the morning after drinking despite not knowing whether they were over the legal limit.
Coroner Telford recommended NZTA and Health NZ developed anti-drink-driving campaigns that specifically highlight the high potential for intoxication in the morning following heavy drinking sessions, and the increased risk this poses for driving even if they feel safe to drive.
He was also asking the agencies to increase public awareness of the combined effects of alcohol and fatigue.
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The expert advice
Among the recommendations, Coroner Telford asked police to conduct a targeted anti-drink-driving campaign that included breath testing checkpoints focused on morning commuters, and that police and NZTA jointly establish a set of standardised criteria for the identification and classification of fatigue in car crashes in New Zealand.
As part of the Coronial inquiry, Massey University professors were enlisted to provide expert advice on the effects of alcohol and drug use on driving ability and sleep and make recommendations that could help prevent future deaths in similar circumstances.
Professor Dr Leigh Signal oversees staff and activities within the Sleep/Wake Research Centre and Associate Professor Dr Andy Towers is the Co-Director of the Mental Health & Addiction Programme.
They said it would have taken Wikaira 18 hours to metabolise and eliminate the alcohol in her body and she had driven 14 hours after her last drink — resulting in "at least a two-fold increase in her risk of crashing that morning compared to someone who had not consumed alcohol".
"The expected level of intoxication at the time of the accident would have impaired Ms Wikaira's ability to transition between tasks, and her ability to maintain appropriate control of the speed and position of the car independently from any sleep loss," Signal and Towers said.
Although the effect of THC and fatigue were difficult to determine, they found she would have felt sleepier and been slower at responding while driving.
They said the amount of sleep she likely had before getting behind the wheel would have contributed, at a minimum, to a moderate decrease in functioning and driving performance, separately from the alcohol consumption.
"The combined impact of alcohol intoxication and fatigue caused by a restricted sleep opportunity would have increased Ms Wikaira's sleepiness and decreased her reaction time and driving-related performance to a greater extent than that experienced by either alcohol or sleep restriction on their own," the professors said.
"These combined effects are expected to result in a level of impairment that contributed to the events associated with this accident."
Agencies respond to Coroner's recommendations
NZTA, police and Health NZ all extended sincere sympathies to the whānau of Joshwyn for their tragic loss.
Police accepted two of the Coroner's four recommendations, acknowledged one and noted another.
Inspector Peter McKennie said they accepted the recommendations to jointly establish with NZTA a set of standardised criteria for the identification and classification of fatigue in car crashes in New Zealand and to ensure all Serious Crash Unit analysts were trained to understand and apply the above standardised criteria for the identification and classification of fatigue in car crashes in New Zealand.
He said police noted the recommendation police should conduct a targeted anti-drink-driving campaign that included breath testing checkpoints focused on morning commuters, such as between 6am to 9am.
"Police already conducts some checkpoints during these hours and breath tests every driver that is stopped; however, the majority of our breath testing occurs during high and extreme risk hours for alcohol-involved crashes, in line with government expectations as set out in the road policing investment programme."
McKennie said while the police does catch some offenders during the morning commuter hours, that time of day is not high risk for alcohol involved crashes.
Police acknowledged the Coroner's recommendation for police training materials on the role of alcohol use in car crashes to be updated with information regarding the enhanced risk of impairment resulting from combined alcohol use and fatigue, especially at levels of blood alcohol content considered safe to drive.
"This is a valuable insight and we will take this into account as part of our ongoing review of training content and consider how this is best reflected in future updates."
NZTA's acting national manager of communications and marketing, Jan McCarthy, said NZTA appreciated the recommendations regarding targeted anti-drink-driving campaigns, particularly in relation to the risks associated with morning-after intoxication.
She said drink driving was a key priority within its road safety campaigns, which were developed based on evidence showing most alcohol-related crashes occur in the afternoons and evenings.
McCarthy said the data also shows serious injuries in these crashes predominantly involve young males.
"Consequently, NZTA's current priority audience is young males (in addition to maintaining a presence amongst all drivers), where it focuses on encouraging sober ride options to ensure safe journeys home."
She said NZTA does not plan to introduce a new campaign as suggested but would monitor any shifts in data trends.
Health NZ's health promotion unit said it appreciated the recommendations and its role was to offer advice to NZTA in the development of its approaches to reduce harm on New Zealand's roads.
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