Cyclist's intentional collision with truck exposes driver's log book breaches

A truck driver's false log book entries were revealed after a cyclist ran into his truck, and died.

Carl Zander, who drove regularly between Nelson and Christchurch, was both punished and granted a reprieve by a judge who noted the cyclist's death was suicide.

Judge Richard Russell also said that other road users relied heavily on truck drivers following the rules around hours they were allowed on the road.

Zander, 33, admitted in the Nelson District Court today charges of making false statements in a log book and exceeding driving hours.

On November 22 last year Zander was driving a heavy truck south of Wakefield - about 20km south of Nelson - en route to Christchurch on a regular overnight run, when he was involved in a fatal collision with a cyclist.

Police prosecution said the event was a suicide.

The subsequent investigation took into account the class of vehicle which requires legal compliance with work times and log book entries. It revealed that Zander had disguised work time exceedances as rest on a number of occasions, and had falsely recorded continuous work time for a single period in which he drove 848 kilometres over difficult and demanding roads at night.

Police said his explanation was that he "liked to get straight to Christchurch because they cooked a meal for him". He said he often stopped on the return trip but usually for no longer than 30 minutes, thinking maybe that was "clever".

Zander was currently not working as a driver, the court heard.

Judge Russell said the purpose of the legislation was to ensure commercial truck drivers were taken off the road for several months following such breaches of the law. He noted that Zander had been off the road for months as a result of the collision with the cyclist, which was not his fault.

"Your lawyer has done a very good job putting the circumstances that occurred following this dreadful incident where a cyclist committed suicide by running into your truck.

"Where you were at fault was in falsifying log books."

Judge Russell said other road users relied on truck drivers to be alert, fit and properly able to drive.

"The consequences if you get this wrong are serious, but I accept the results of the incident have been profound and you have received counselling," Judge Russell said.

He said part of that was to help Zander get back behind the wheel, and while he did not want to interfere with that, neither did he want to interfere with the integrity of the legislation.

Zander was convicted and fined $600 and ordered to pay court costs. He was disqualified from driving for a month, back-dated to January 1 this year, which Judge Russell said meant he was now free to drive.

-By Tracy Neal
Open Justice multimedia journalist