Newstalk ZB
Keen cyclist Bryan Marris was commuting home past stationary traffic in April 2023, when the lights changed at a Mount Maunganui intersection. He’d just reached the back of a truck and trailer unit, driven by Kelly Shearer, as the truck began to pick up speed. As they both got closer to the intersection of Tasman Quay and Totora St, Marris was alongside Shearer’s cab as they travelled at a similar speed. Shearer had turned on his indicator once the light turned green, but did not see Marris in the cycle lane, and turned left onto Tasman Quay. Marris collided with the truck’s left front wheel and was knocked into the path of the truck’s rear wheels, and the trailer’s rear wheels. At an earlier judge-alone trial, where Shearer defended a charge of careless driving causing death, he said he felt a bump which he thought was a pothole. When he felt it a second time, he slammed on his brakes, got out, and saw Marris on the road. He told police that when he saw a man lying on the road, he “knew he was gone”. Marris was pronounced dead at the scene. Coroner Ian Telford has now released his findings into cyclist Bryan Marris' death in a collision with a truck, in 2023. He was 59 years old when he died, on April 23, 2023, and his cause of death was a traumatic brain injury. In findings released today, a coroner said Marris’ “tragic death serves as a reminder to all drivers – particularly those of heavy vehicles – of their obligations to cyclists on public roads”. Blind spots and give way rules Coroner Ian Telford said submissions made by Marris’ wife, Brenda Marris, were a “helpful framework”. She had drawn the coroner’s attention to the Road Code’s Give Way rules, which state that when turning left, a driver needs to check their left side mirror and blind spot for a cyclist. “If the cyclist is going straight ahead, you must give way to them. If they’re turning left, you might need to make room for them.” Coroner Telford said that cyclists have a right to use the road safely, and he endorsed the New Zealand Transport Agency Waka Kotahi’s guidance that “cyclists can be quite vulnerable on the road”, as they are less visible and protected. “As the driver of a heavy vehicle, you need to be particularly careful when driving near cyclists, as your vehicle is much larger and can limit your view of smaller vehicles,” the coroner said, referring to NZTA guidelines. The coroner said NZTA had advised that moving through and turning at intersections is a common cause of cycle collisions. When it came to heavy vehicles, there was a particular risk because of “larger blind spots”. “If you are following a cyclist and want to turn left, wait until the cyclist has passed the intersection.” The coroner reiterated that “at intersections, apply the same rules to cyclists as you would to any other vehicle on the road”. He said: “If you are crossing a cycle lane, give way to cyclists before you cross.” Coroner Telford said that in Marris’ case, the difficulties posed by blind spots were a central issue. Brenda Marris had suggested that trucks should not be on the road with “life-threatening blind spots”. In considering this submission, Coroner Telford referred to a similar case involving a cyclist and truck, where Coroner Louella Dunn had noted “ongoing concerns about heavy vehicle blind spots and the number of cycle fatalities in New Zealand”. There had been 65 recorded fatalities involving cyclists since 2017. Coroner Dunn had made several recommendations, but after consulting with NZTA and an independent truck expert, had declined to recommend retrofitting trucks with “additional blind-spot safety measures”. She had found that such measures were impractical due to the diversity of heavy vehicles, lack of global standards, and multiple contributing factors to the crash, including road markings and positioning of cyclists. However, she encouraged NZTA to pursue international consensus on “blind-spot mitigation technology” and to continue “promotin...
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