A tourism company operating farm tours at Mt Nicholas Station tightened its safety procedures after one of its drivers ran over and fatally injured an American tourist last year.
Giving evidence on the third day of her trial in the Queenstown District Court yesterday, the driver said her employer, Southern Discoveries, no longer allowed its buses to be reversed on the high country station.
The 63-year-old Wakatipu resident, who has interim name suppression, is charged with careless driving causing the death of Richard Philip Hyde (73) on April 15 last year.
Mr Hyde died in a helicopter on the way to Lakes District Hospital after being run over outside the station’s woolshed by one of the 3.8-tonne bus’ dual rear tyres.
Giving evidence, the defendant said she continued to work part-time for the company but had not driven at the station since the accident.
However, the company subsequently told drivers to park further away from the woolshed, which allowed them to drive forward to turn the buses around.
A former driver for the company, Frances O’Connor, said she never got out of the bus at that location to check behind before reversing.
"I’ve never felt it necessary because no-one has ever walked behind a bus in my career, as far as I’m aware."
Ms O’Connor said that after the accident, drivers were told to park the buses in a designated spot, and the farm tour guide was tasked with ensuring passengers went directly into the woolshed.
The defendant said she was aware her bus had a blind spot extending for up to 10 metres behind it.
But unlike another bus used for the tours, it did not have an external rear-view mirror showing the area immediately behind it.
Before the accident, drivers were told to reverse the bus away from the woolshed because the station’s managers did not want the vehicles driving over a nearby lawn, she said.
On the day in question, after dropping off Mr Hyde and six other visitors at the woolshed, she assumed they had all followed the tour guide’s instructions to go inside the building for refreshments.
She did not check that herself, however, because she always focused on chatting to passengers as they got off.
Prosecutor Sergeant Grant Gerken asked her why she had told the first police officer to arrive at the scene: "I count them off. Today I counted six, I forgot there was seven."
She replied she had "no idea" why she had said that, but had been distressed and shocked after learning Mr Hyde had died.
"I never count the people off the vehicle. I make sure the vehicle is empty, but I didn’t make a head count."
When Sgt Gerken asked why she had not seen Mr Hyde, she replied he must have been in her blind spot, "... below my level of vision and perhaps moving — maybe he had fallen over."
The bus’ loud reversing alarm, and the slow speed at which she had driven backwards, gave anyone around the bus "sufficient warning" to move out of the way.
She was not aware until the trial that the victim had impaired hearing, she said.
The trial continues today.
