In May 2021, Shona Brenssell and Dale Waitokia got word that Brenssell’s husband’s name had been cleared, and he was not responsible for causing the crash as police initially indicated, when Coroner Peter Ryan found it was unfair to say Wayne had contributed to the accident. The first coroner s report concluded that Wayne’s erratic driving – and more specifically, a braking manoeuvre – caused the crash. The pair had been employed by Calder Developments. Instead, Coroner Ryan put the crash down to four factors: a loss of structural integrity in the A-frame, which caused the concrete panels to shift, along with bumps in the road, the load s high centre of mass, and one braking move, possibly when the trailer shifted.
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Initial investigations suggested that a braking manoeuvre from Brenssell was the cause of the crash. After taking more evidence and expert opinion into account, Coroner Ryan found it was more likely the A-frame collapsed as they entered the bend, shifting the weight, and initiating the roll-over sequence. This is what their families believed had happened and why they kept pushing to change the initial finding.
Kavinda Herath/Stuff
Shona Brenssell, left, and Dale Waitokia have been fighting for answers about their husband s deaths since 2013. On Monday, they got the official Coroner’s finding exonerating Brenssell s husband Wayne. Dale Waitokia said it wouldn’t have mattered who was driving.
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