A coroner has found a dangerous stretch of State Highway 1 in south Canterbury, which authorities knew posed a risk, contributed to a crash which killed a 31-year-old woman.
And she has called for road improvement works, shelved as they didn't "align with government priorities", to be revived.
Kellyanne Pattinson was driving south of Timaru on January 17, 2018, when a northbound Bidfood truck lost traction on a bend, slid across both northbound lanes and collided with her car. She died at the scene.
Pattinson, a cook and caregiver, was described by her mother Helen as social, bubbly, happy and outgoing.
Coroner Alexandra Cunninghame said, in findings released today, the poor state of the northbound left lane was a cause of the crash.
The surface had been "flushed", meaning tar had risen to the top of the road and made it slippery in wet conditions.
The truck's driver, Andrew Brown, had around 30 years of driving experience and had driven the section of highway twice a day for more than a decade. He was travelling at around 85km/h when the truck rounded the bend.
"Coming up round the hill I felt the back of the truck go and next minute I'm heading across the road," Brown told investigators.
The truck travelled 68m sideways across three lanes, and Pattinson had no time to brake or swerve to avoid the collision.
Coroner Cunninghame said: "There is no evidence before the Court that driver fault was a factor in the crash." Police investigated the crash and decided not to charge Brown.
Road 'wet and greasy'
Eyewitness Peter Hogg described the road as "wet and greasy" at the time of the crash.
Both Hogg and driver trainer Bruce Kennedy gave evidence that they had recently felt the back of their trucks slide out on the same corner in wet conditions in the days before.
The coroner found the New Zealand Transport Agency (NZTA) was aware of the poor condition of the road prior to Pattinson's death.
Five loss-of-control crashes had occurred within 250m of the site between 2012 and 2017, four of them involving northbound vehicles.
NZTA installed a "slippery when wet" sign around 480m before the corner but took no further action to fix the lane before the crash.
"Given the documented concerns about the road, I am not satisfied that NZTA’s earlier steps were adequate to ensure public safety," the coroner said.
More significant steps were taken following Pattinson's death, including the lane being resealed three days afterwards. The addition of rumble strips, extra signs and further resealing and surface treatments also followed.
Three years after the fatality, in 2021, the agency planned the SH1 Timaru to St Andrews Safety Improvements Project, which would have addressed known risks with continuous median barriers and was due to be finished by February 2026.
Safety plans dropped
However, it did not proceed to construction because, as NZTA advised the Court, it needed to "align with government priorities".
The barriers were dropped in 2024 after residents and business operators raised concerns.
Local MPs Miles Anderson and James Meager had written to then-transport minister Simeon Brown saying barriers would make it harder for farm machinery, milk tankers and stock trucks to get in and out of properties.
The minister said at the time the projects would instead go ahead with lower-cost measures, including wider centre lines, road widening and surfacing work.
The coroner recommended the project be carried out with the median barriers.
"While I accept that funding priorities may be a matter outside of NZTA's direct control, I make the above recommendation as a way of ensuring continued focus on the need to improve safety on a stretch of road which has claimed a life," she said.
In its response, NZTA said there had been "no further progress" on the corridor safety work and no committed works linked to the programme.
In a statement today, NZTA said it acknowledged the coroner's findings and recommendation but said the road upgrade "is a major project in size and scope, and we have so far been unable to advance it due to funding availability".
It acknowledged "the coroner's view that more could have been done prior to this crash", pointing to steps it had taken before Pattinson's death, including plans to reseal the road, work to fix chip loss and surface bleeding at the site, and signs warning of the risk of slipping.
"We extend our deepest sympathies to the family and friends of Kellyanne, who are no doubt still dealing with the pain of their loss several years after the crash occurred."
Pattinson's parents, Russell and Helen Pattinson, had hoped an inquest would give clearer answers about what caused the crash.
"I am acutely conscious that nothing this Court can do can alleviate the pain of losing their beloved daughter," the coroner said.
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