Poor decisions and alcohol consumption contributed to the deaths of two 18-year-old women whose vehicle plunged nearly 100 metres down a steep mountainside in Mt Richmond Forest Park last year, a coroner has found.
According to a report by RNZ, the close friends, whose names are suppressed, were returning from Beebys Hut late on April 8 when their ute rolled 98 metres down a rugged bank. They had initially planned to spend the night at the hut, but changed their plans after telling a friend in a video call that they were cold and heading back down the mountain.
Police were alerted to the crash at 11.01 pm by an automated emergency notification from one of the women’s phones. When rescuers reached the site, both women were found dead, having been ejected from the vehicle.
Coroner Peter Ryan noted that neither of the victims was wearing a seatbelt.
“Although there is no evidence to indicate whether either or both of the women would have survived had they been wearing seatbelts, common sense dictates that wearing seatbelts would have prevented them from being ejected from the vehicle,” he stated, quoted RNZ.
According to RNZ, Toxicology reports revealed both had been drinking earlier in the evening. The woman believed to be driving was nearly three times over the adult blood-alcohol limit, despite the legal limit for drivers under 20 being zero.
While there was no evidence of reckless or erratic driving, Coroner Ryan accepted the Serious Crash Unit’s conclusion that alcohol impairment played a key role.
“It is likely that, due to the amount of alcohol she had drunk, her judgement and decision-making were impaired,” he said. “She likely misjudged the steepness of the slope, the capability of the vehicle, and over-estimated her own ability to drive over such terrain,” reported RNZ.
The coroner also found that the pair had driven about 200 metres off the formed track and after dark, breaching Department of Conservation (DOC) access rules.
The woman believed to have been in the passenger seat had collected the key from the DOC office and received the access conditions, suggesting the driver might not have been aware of the restrictions.
Although the damaged ute could not be recovered for a full inspection, crash analysis found it unlikely that mechanical failure was a contributing factor.
Described as adventurous and inseparable friends who loved the outdoors, both women died from multiple severe injuries.
Coroner Ryan’s report serves as a sobering reminder of the dangers of driving under the influence and the importance of wearing seatbelts, particularly on challenging off-road terrain.