Ming Chih Hsieh, pictured at Lake Wakatipu, was on the trip of a lifetime when he was fatally struck by a truck in Hornby, Christchurch, in 2014.



A judge has called for more camera technology to be used to improve the safety of big trucks and their massive blind spots, at a sentencing for a Christchurch cyclist's death.

Judge Gary MacAskill said he hoped the issue would be considered at an inquest into the death of Taiwanese cycle tourist Ming-Chih Hsieh, who was crushed by a truck.

The cyclist had been in the blind spot to the immediate left of the truck driven by David Peter Connell, 51, who was convicted in June of charge of careless driving causing death.

FAIRFAX NZ David Connell told a probation officer the remorse from killing two cyclists "eats away at me every day".

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Connell was responsible for an earlier cycle death. He crashed a truck into Stephen Craig Avery on State Highway 1 on the Kapiti Coast in 2005.

"If something good can come out of this, it might be that cameras be made available on vehicles on this kind," the judge said at Tuesday's sentencing.

He sentenced Connell to community detention for four months at an address in Darfield, 200 hours of community work, disqualification from driving for a year and payment of the $7000 of reparations.

Through defence counsel Kerry Cook, Connell apologised to the victim's family for the loss of their son.

He said Connell would have liked to speak to them directly over Skype, to express that apology, but they had understandably declined.

Cyclist Stephen Avery was killed by truck driver David Peter Connell in 2005.

Connell was not aware of the particular cultural factors involved until he was given the family's victim impact statement to read on the day of the sentencing.

Cook said Connell offered the family $7000 for losses and emotional harm reparations, which he had raised through a loan and some savings. It was a significant sum for a man with no great means, who was not currently working.

The judge found him guilty at a judge-alone trial in June, which heard how Connell's large articulated truck had crushed the cyclist as it made a left turn at the Carmen Rd–Waterloo Rd intersection in Hornby on September 29, 2014.

Hsieh, 33, was riding in a cycle lane on the left side of the vehicle. A vehicle inspector told the trial that poor visibility through the left-hand side window because of the dirt and grime, and the fact that the indicator lights on both the trailer units were not working may have been contributing factors to the crash.

The cyclist had remained in the "blind zone" around the tractor unit.

Judge MacAskill found that Connell had failed to recognise that he had to check, wait, and give way to cyclists in a cycle lane going straight ahead on his left.

JOHN KIRK-ANDERSON/FAIRFAX NZ The family of Taiwanese cyclist Ming-Chih Hsieh, who was killed by a truck: sister Hui-Tzu Hsieh, uncle Hsin Fu Chen, and father Fu-Tsai Hsieh.

Hsieh was not "negligent" in failing to protect himself when there was a risk the truck driver might not give way to him.

Judge MacAskill said the accident was a disaster for Hsieh's parents. He would not be able to support them in their old age, as would have been expected.

He acknowledged that the tragedy had an effect on Connell from the outset. Connell had told the probation officer at his pre-sentence interview that his remorse "eats away at me every day".

When Connell pleaded guilty over Hsieh's death in July, Craig Avery's sister, Lesley, said she hoped Connell was never allowed in a truck again.

Connell was ordered to pay $2000 to Avery's widow and disqualified from driving for nine months.

"I was disgusted, absolutely disgusted in the people that hired him that let him get behind the wheel, supposedly knowing that he had killed someone," Lesley Avery said.

Spokes cycling advocacy group chairman Don Babe said trucking companies needed to take the initiative and install cameras or proximity sensors.

"My advice to all cyclists is if you are approaching an intersection and there is a truck there, assume they haven't seen you."



