Yesterday, Coroner Alan Macalister began the inquest into the death of Luke Zion McCrostie (18), who died on March 17, 2007, when the quad bike he was riding slammed into a wall during an all-terrain vehicle (ATV) demonstration, part of the line-up at the Central Speedway that night.
Fellow rider Brendon Phillips (27), of Winton, was also injured.
Mr Macalister heard from Central Speedway's designated promoter Phillip Burgess; quad bike racer Craig Pointon, who organised the demonstration that night; Central Speedway head vehicle checker at the event Neville May; and officer in charge Constable Maude O'Connell, of Cromwell, yesterday, before adjourning the inquest until such time as a report from Motorcycle New Zealand safety commissioner Murray Perry was made available, expected to be December 16.
Luke's father, Alan, questioned the reasons for the delay during the inquest yesterday, prompting an apology from Mr Macalister.
Mr McCrostie asked Const O'Connell why Luke's family had been forced to wait more than 20 months to get a definitive answer relating to his death.
"I'm aware that this will not be finished today . . . and I can understand why, but . . . Luke was killed 20 months ago. Do you think the time factor is fair?"
Senior Constable Chris Blackford, of Queenstown, said he understood Mr McCrostie's feelings and agreed the time taken to get the matter before the coroner was "unacceptable" but it was unfair to "point the finger at Const O'Connell".
Snr Const Blackford said staffing at the Cromwell Police Station was lacking at the time of the incident, meaning police had to balance finding time to prepare reports for the inquest while continuing their general daily duties.
Mr Macalister told Mr McCrostie he also understood how the family felt.
"I have been most uncomfortable at the time it's taken to get this matter to a hearing. I appreciate from your point of view it has been something which has been [upsetting], it has not been made any easier by what has occurred.
"Having said that, inquests do take time to complete thoroughly, particularly when issues arise requiring investigation and questions being answered.
"Sometimes, those answers give rise to more questions . . . I apologise on behalf of the system, but I can't say I can point the finger at anyone and say `it was their fault'.
"It's unfortunately one of those things.
In the normal course, I would have expected this matter . . . would have been heard within the year."
Before Mr Macalister adjourned the hearing, Mr McCrostie addressed the court on behalf of the family.
"On behalf of the family, I'd like to express . . . that we don't hold any bitterness towards the speedway organiser of the ATV races.
It was Luke's decision, he did what he enjoyed doing - I tried to talk him out of it, but it's not the way it was meant to be."
During yesterday's inquest, Mr Pointon, who also drove in the ATV demonstration last year, said following the incident he had viewed a video portion of the event, including the crash.
"I could see that I was in the lead, Phil Honeywill was second. I came through the corner cleanly. Phil spun out and rolled backwards, towards the outer of the track, corner two. From what I have seen on the video, Luke must have been third, Brendon and Mike (Sangster) fourth or fifth.
"Luke has tried to avoid hitting Phil; Brendon has tried to do exactly the same which has sent them to the exterior of the track. This is where you get all the loose stuff, clay. This makes it harder to brake or slow down.
"By trying to avoid Phil, Brendon and Luke have had to steer straight and that's caused them to hit the wall.
"From my recollection of viewing the video . . . I think they may have made a split second decision to steer wide and that Luke has made this decision and Brendon has followed him."
Mr Burgess said the rescue crew were with Luke and Brendon Phillips within "about two minutes" of the crash, but a helicopter did not arrive at the scene for "about an hour".
He said one helicopter was diverted to another incident so a second had to be called - not long after it arrived, Mr McCrostie was pronounced dead.
Const O'Connell said a postmortem was carried out in Dunedin by Prof H. S. Yoon on March 19, which concluded Luke McCrostie died due to haemorrhagic shock; extensive traumatic injuries to his chest; severe impact to the chest; and a fractured cervical vertebra, splenic lacerations.
