Coroner misses the point
Stuff reports:
A coroner is calling for better regulations of headlights following the death of a drunk man who was run over lying on a rural Hamilton road at night.
Hastings man William Gregory Hoskins was killed on January 15, 2012, after he was struck by a car on Marychurch Road in the early hours of the morning.
It is not known how he came to be lying on the road, Coroner Gary Evans said in findings released today.
Hoskins had travelled to Hamilton with family to attend a cousin’s wedding, and had been drinking at the reception.
A test found he had alcohol in his blood at a level of 190 milligrams per 100 milliletres, over twice the legal blood alcohol limit for drivers.
He had also smoked the equivalent of a single cannabis cigarette in the hours before his death, which may have accentuated the effects of alcohol, a report said. …
CORONER RECOMMENDATIONS
– Consideration be given to the creation of more detailed regulations as to the requirements of vehicle headlights.
– Consideration be given to revision of the warrant of fitness testing scheme with a view to measurement of the lux output of headlights and the distance at which they are operating efficiently.
– Greater emphasis be placed on the dangers of driving on dipped headlights on roads.
– Renewed consideration be given to the question of whether the Land Transport (Road User) Rules 2004 should contain a requirement or guide to the circumstances in which drivers must or should drive with their headlights on full beam.
I’ve got a simpler recommendation.
Don’t get so drunk and stoned that you fall asleep or unconscious on an unlit (or lit) road.