$8000 for hitting motorcyclist
3:31 PM Tuesday Dec 22, 2015
Feng Ming, a manager, of Shanghai, appeared before Judge Mark Callaghan in the Queenstown District Court this morning.
A Chinese driver has been convicted and ordered to pay $8000 immediately to a motorcyclist he hit with his rental car near Wanaka, causing serious injuries.
Feng Ming, a manager, of Shanghai, appeared before Judge Mark Callaghan in the Queenstown District Court this morning. He admitted a charge of careless driving causing injury to Neil Smith on Wanaka Makarora Rd on State Highway 6, near Lake Hawea, last Friday afternoon.
The 34-year-old tourist, who is on honeymoon, was driving a Toyota with his wife in the passenger seat. He was not named on the rental agreement.
Mr Smith, of the West Coast, was riding his motorcycle and travelling north.
Judge Callaghan said Ming had slowed to between 20km/h and 30km/h and indicated to turn right into a carpark on the other side of the road.
He began to cross the road but failed to see Mr Smith, who was unable to slow down or avoid the vehicle.
His bike collided with the passenger side of Ming's car, became airborne, and travelled about 9m down the road.
Mr Smith slid for about 6m in the south-bound lane. As a result, he suffered two broken hands, both of which are in plaster for about six weeks, a femur broken in two places, a broken pelvis and a "shattered hip''.
Mr Smith remained in Dunedin Hospital and would not be able to bear weight for at least six weeks. It would be at least 12 months before he fully recovered, Judge Callaghan told Ming.
"When you were spoken to [by police] you said you were going to take a photo from the lookout and you thought the motorbike had been travelling too fast.''
Judge Callaghan said he believed contributing factors were that Ming had misjudged the distance and the speed of the motorcycle, the road was unfamiliar, and he had been driving in New Zealand for a limited time.
Ming had entered a guilty plea at the earliest opportunity, and had made money available as reparation for emotional harm. The judge believed it was not necessary to hold a restorative justice meeting.
"You did attend to the victim at the time, although he may not have realised it, you did offer an apology to him. There's probably nothing further you could say to him.''
Ming's passport would be returned on his payment of the reparation, Judge Callaghan said, and he was also disqualified from driving for six months.
- Otago Daily Times
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