Incident Study Research
Driver ordered to pay thousands for injuring TV journo and killing horse
By Amelia Wade
"Peng Wang, a 29-year-old Chinese national, was today sentenced to 80 hours community work and ordered to pay $25,000 after being found guilty of careless driving causing injury last week."
"Newshub journalist Karen Rutherford was hit by Wang's car while riding her daughter's horse, Curious George, last August. (2016)"
"Rutherford and her 13-year-old daughter, Ella, were riding on Postman Rd in Dairy Flat, north of Auckland, when Wang's people mover hit the horse, throwing the journalist into his windscreen and then into a ditch."
"The 44-year-old's leg catapulted into her head, the force of which tore the skin and tissue away from the muscle, almost ripping off her leg."
"Her injuries were so severe a surgeon could put his whole hand in her leg, which was broken in multiple places, as well as bones in her feet and toes."
"Judge Jonathan Down said Wang's driving was an example of "gross carelessness"."
"Wang didn't even receive a fine, just ordered to repay her for the harm he'd caused so the punishment of 80 hours came as a disappointment, Rutherford said."
"It's an example of how woefully inadequate our justice system is. The charges available don't adequately express seriousness of actions."
"She sees three physios each week on top of neurologist and surgeon appointments and ongoing pain."
""Peng Wang might be going home but the pain I have isn't going away.""
"At sentencing this morning at the Auckland District Court, Judge Down concluded Wang was going too fast for the circumstances as he was likely going between 60km/h to 70km/h."
"The judge also said Wang gave the first horse which Ella was riding "probably less" than 50cm passing room and in effect gave no room to Rutherford on Curious George. Ignorance of New Zealand's road rules was not a defence, Judge Down said."
""It's not only wrong in law but a gross error in judgment and common sense. I conclude that you, faced with unfamiliar circumstances, made a decision that no prudent driver would have made.""
"Wang was also ordered to do 80 hours community work, which Judge Down said would have been significantly longer if Wang's visa didn't expire in a couple of weeks. Wang was also disqualified from driving in New Zealand for 18 months."
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=11832128
Peng Wang Trial: Karen Rutherford says horse 'saved my life'
By Brooke Bath
"Rutherford was the last person to give evidence in the judge-alone trial of Chinese national Peng Wang at the North Shore District Court on Wednesday. Wang, 28, has pleaded not guilty to a charge of careless driving causing injury following the incident in Dairy Flat, north Auckland, in August last year."
"Rutherford and her daughter were riding their horses, Chico and Curious George, in a single file at the edge of the 80kmh road before the incident, Judge Jonathan Down heard."
"Rutherford described how the vehicle Wang was driving was going "like a bat out of hell" towards them, and showed no sign of slowing down or moving over when it approached them, she said. "It's like he was hell bent on driving straight into us," Rutherford said."
"Rutherford suffered multiple broken bones, including a broken leg, and a mild traumatic brain injury. "George saved my life, he took the brunt of the impact." "I was very lucky not to lose my leg. The surgeon could put his entire hand inside my leg. It was cut from one side all the way round to the other," she said. Curious George was so badly hurt he had to be euthanised."
"Her 13-year-old daughter clutched a picture of George when she gave evidence earlier. She described how she had yelled at the car to slow down as it approached them. "I yelled louder, 'Slow down, slow down, move over,' but it didn't change," the teen said. The car came so close to the teen that it brushed the whip she was holding in her hand."
http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/89915041/peng-wang-trial-teen-saw-debris-flying-when-vehicle-hit-mum-karen-rutherford-and-horse
Journalist Karen Rutherford on recovery after crash which killed her horse
By Jay Boreham
"The MediaWorks journalist and her eldest daughter Ella, 13, were riding single file on Postman Rd in rural north Auckland's Dairy Flat, when a car allegedly ploughed into George, throwing Rutherford into its windscreen."
"George was killed and Rutherford suffered horrific injuries."
"With urban boundaries exploding and more people moving into rural areas, Rutherford feels there isn't an appreciation for many of what it takes to drive on a rural road and she wants drivers to realise rural roads aren't racetracks."
"The split runs around two-thirds of her leg and the impact forced the skin and tissue of her lower leg away from the muscle. "I was lucky, I nearly lost my leg. The surgeon could put his whole hand in inside it," she says."
http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/86046369/Journalist-Karen-Rutherford-on-recovery-after-crash-which-killed-her-horse
Foreign driver guilty of hitting horse, injuring its rider
By Breanna Barraclough & Janika ter Ellen
"Chinese national 28-year-old Peng Wang was charged following the horror crash on Postman Rd in Auckland's Dairy Flat in 2016. Horse rider and Newshub journalist Karen Rutherford is still recovering from the August crash more than eight months later."
"Among other injuries, she suffered a de-gloved leg and now has difficulty with her memory. The horse she was riding, Curious George, was killed."
"An emotional Ms Rutherford told Newshub it was "a bit of a shallow victory"."
""We always knew he would be found guilty because it was an open and shut case - but George isn't here, and that's the tragedy in all of this." At the time, Wang was driving on a Chinese license. A New Zealand one is not required until after a year in the country. He admitted he had never read the New Zealand road code, but tried to learn about driving from those he was visiting on his business trip."
"Earlier in the trial, 13-year-old Ella Rutherford described how she and her mother saw Wang's grey van coming toward them at about 80km/h, the speed limit on Postman Road. She says Wang never slowed down, and hugged the white line on the left shoulder of the road, not the centre line, as he testified. Ella said she signalled wildly with her hands for the driver to slow down but Wang said he did not see her signals."
""I had faith you would slow down and veer away, but you never did," she said. "What possessed you to drive like this, head-on, into two people on horses who'd chosen a safe path on the road's edge?""
"Ms Rutherford said she was angry with Wang's "arrogance", for pleading not guilty and "[his] lies throughout this whole ordeal"."
http://www.newshub.co.nz/home/new-zealand/2017/03/foreign-driver-guilty-of-hitting-horse-injuring-its-rider.html
Opinion: A crash victim's message to the driver who injured her
By Karen Rutherford
"This is my victim impact statement read out to Wang on Wednesday."
"I continue to endure night after night of flashbacks. I see you bearing down on us at full speed on the very edge of the road. I had faith you would slow down and veer away, but you never did. What possessed you to drive like this, head-on, into two people on horses who'd chosen a safe path on the road's edge?"
"Your lack of empathy still astounds me. It makes me sick to the core that a human being could exhibit such carelessness and inflict such pain, yet show absolutely no sign of caring or attempting to help at any time after you crashed into us."
"I have been diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder and I am not the person I used to be. I spent 15 days in hospital with broken bones, a degloved leg and a head injury. For three months I was barely mobile, confined to a wheelchair or walker before graduating to crutches due to the massive trauma injury to my leg, which surgeons say will take up to a year to heal. The panic attacks are ongoing. Heightening my anxiety is the fact you live on my very road and are still driving around on your International License, while I struggle to leave my home."
"Neurological tests show one side of my brain is slower than the other as a result of hitting your windscreen."
"We are picking up the pieces, just like you did with your car, because that's all you cared about as I lay injured and Ella cradled her horse. Curious George meant the world to us. You will never know the pain I feel at losing him. You may as well have killed another human, that's how it's affected those of us who held him dear. You will never understand how much of an integral part of our family he was, to the point he'd even try and walk into the house to seek out food or companionship."
"I'm angry at the 'system' that allows people to come into New Zealand and drive for up to a year without any form of theory or practical test. If I went to your country I'd have to jump through hoops to have access to a car. I'd also be expected to respect the rules, and accept the punishment if I broke them. So should you."
http://www.newshub.co.nz/home/new-zealand/2017/03/opinion-a-crash-victim-s-message-to-the-driver-who-injured-her.html