Driving at 148kmh is always going to be dangerous on NZ roads says the Automobile Association

Wednesday, 26 February 2020

Kingston Webb was driving his Suzuki Swift, 68kmh over the limit.

Driving at 148kmh on any stretch of New Zealand road is dangerous, says the Automobile Association.

Speaking in relation to a teen who was acquitted of a charge of dangerous driving despite driving 68kmh over the 80kmh speed limit, AA's principal advisor of regulations, Mark Stockdale, said it could only have been a 'legal technicality' that saw the judge make that decision.

Napier student Kingston Webb was acquitted by Judge David Harvey in Napier District Court on Tuesday after a short judge alone trial.

Kingston Webb was clocked driving at 148kmh in his Suzuki Swift.

Webb, 18, was driving his Suzuki Swift north along State Highway 2, alongside the Hawke's Bay Airport at about 7.40pm on November 1 last year.

**READ MORE:

Mark Stockdale, principal advisor regulations, New Zealand Automobile Association Incorporated.

* He might have been driving at 148kmh in an 80kmh area but it wasn't dangerous**

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Webb was 68kmh over the 80kmh zone limit on State HIghway 2 just north of Napier.

* One man, two cases of high-speed dangerous driving on two different days

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The road is relatively straight and has a median barrier.

* Police pursuits: How New Zealand compares to Australia**

He was clocked at 148kmh. After being pulled over by a police officer Webb was automatically suspended from driving for 28 days and charged with dangerous driving.

Judge David Harvey found Kingston Webb not guilty of driving at a dangerous speed.

Webb, who is studying law, told the court he knew the road well, travelling it 3-4 times a week and he was very familiar with road works in the area.

Judge Harvey acquitted Webb of the charge but amended it to one of driving at excessive speed. Webb was fined $400 and ordered to pay $130 court costs. He was not disqualified.

Outside court, Kingston Webb said he did not want people to think he thought speeding was OK.

The judge said speed alone was not sufficient to establish dangerous driving. He said the road was relatively straight, it was two lanes narrowing down to one, the seal was good, the road conditions were good, the car was a relatively late model and in good condition, there were no driveways or other roads opening onto the highway, no parked cars and there were no other vehicles in the immediate vicinity, the lighting was relatively good, and Webb was not driving erratically, Judge Harvey said.

Stockdale said it seemed 'an interesting decision', and appeared to be 'based on a legal technicality based on these particular circumstances'.

'That is a very high speed. It is dangerous. The consequences of something going wrong are very severe and likely to be fatal,' he said.

'The decision appears to come from the interpretation the judge has made in this particular circumstance and it doesn't mean it would be made elsewhere,' Stockdale said.

He said it was possible to build roads on which higher speeds could be considered safe, but 'we don't have those roads in New Zealand'.

'There is no public road in New Zealand on which 148kmh is safe,' he said.

It would be unsafe regardless of what sort of car you were in, he added.

'This ruling isn't suggesting you can drive at high speed on an expressway when there's no other traffic and no access points, at all. because if you are speeding you will get caught and you will be penalised as this young driver has been,' he said.

'But at the end of the day the driver in question has been found guilty of excessive speed and he has been fined and lost his licence for 28 days. So it's not like he got off.'

Transport Minister Julie Anne Genter declined to comment on the case.

Waka Kotahi NZ Transport Agency senior road safety manager Fabian Marsh would not comment on the case but said no roads in New Zealand were designed to safely accommodate very high speeds.

'If you crash at a very high speed, or if you are struck by another vehicle driving at very high speeds, the evidence tells us that you will almost certainly be seriously injured or killed. The human body is simply not designed to absorb the energy of a high speed crash, and even a car with the latest safety features is very unlikely to protect you from injury in such a violent crash,' Marsh said.

Asked if there could ever be a circumstance where a motorist could drive at 68kph above the posted limit and not be considered to be driving dangerously, he declined to comment.

He would also not comment on whether he was concerned about any message this sends other motorists.

Previous Dangerous Driving Charges

Leandro Jesus Negro, 27, was clocked riding a motorbike at 236kmh near Cromwell on January 12 this year. He was charged with driving at a speed which might have been dangerous to the public on and pleaded not guilty. He has been remanded on bail until April.
In 2012, Nelson woman Joni Leanne Mitchell pleaded guilty to charges including recklessly operating a motor vehicle, after she was clocked going 180kmh. Police withdrew dangerous driving charges. She said she was speeding due as she was late to a waxing appointment.
In 2010, Allan Hohaia was found guilty of dangerous driving in a defended hearing in May 2010, after Judge Ann Gaskell accepted evidence taken from a car's airbag computer. He was sentenced to six months' home detention and ordered to pay $17,500 reparation to the man he almost killed.
In 2008, jockey Lisa Cropp pleaded guilty to a dangerous driving charge for travelling below the speed limit and crossing the centre line of State Highway 26. She was ordered to pay a $300 fine and court costs of $130.