Truckie jailed for killing cyclist

A driver who fell asleep at the wheel of his heavily laden logging truck shortly before killing a German cyclist in a horror crash near Te Puke  has been jailed for two years and three months.

Stephan Stoermer, 38, of Frankfurt, was on the last leg of a 26-country cycling journey when he was hit and killed by Troy Roberts' truck and trailer  near Te Matai Rd on State Highway Two on  March 12 last year. 

In May  Roberts, 35, appeared in Tauranga District Court and pleaded guilty to a charge of reckless driving causing death, one of falsifying his log book and  several breaches of Land Transport Act regulations, relating to exceeding his restricted driving hours. Police inquiries revealed Roberts had exceeded his restricted driving hours and did not have enough rest breaks in the days leading up to the crash.

On the day of the crash he had driven for seven hours and 15 minutes before stopping, although he was required to have a 30-minute  break after five hours. He had also falsely entered his start time as 4am instead of 2.30am. About 5.45pm on March 12, Roberts had begun to fall asleep as he drove along SH2 on his way to the Port of Tauranga, where he had intended to unload his logs before travelling home to Rotorua.

Near the Te Matai Rd turnoff, Roberts' vehicle hit Mr Stoermer, who had also been heading to Tauranga, at a speed of 80-85km/h.

Mr Stoermer and his bike had been catapulted  into a  ditch. Despite the  efforts of two nurses and a doctor, he had died at the scene.

Roberts admitted his log book was not in order. He claimed he saw the cyclist and  moved to pass him, but heard a bang and knew he'd hit him instead.

Roberts said he believed Mr Stoermer may have suddenly veered on to the road in front of him, but a police crash investigation cleared Mr Stoermer of contributing to the crash.

As a commercial truck driver employed by Kahurangi Logging of Murupara, Roberts' driving hours were restricted by law and the maximum permitted, including two 30-minute rests, was 14 hours a day. Drivers are required to have a minimum of 10 hours' rest between working days.

Between January 12 and the day of the crash, Roberts breached those regulations 13 times.

In Tauranga District Court yesterday, Roberts' lawyer Rebekah Webby argued for a sentence of home detention.

 She said Roberts was extremely remorseful and continued to struggle to come to terms with Mr Stoermer's death. The incident had impacted on him and his family.

Roberts, who lost his job as a result of the incident, had whanau ties to the logging company and had felt under pressure to drive to meet their commitments.

Judge Paul Geoghegan said the summary of facts made tragic reading.  On the day of the crash, Roberts had been a "ticking time bomb" and the fact that he had been driving a fully laden logging truck and trailer made his  offence more serious.

While he was prepared to take into account a $400 offer of reparation by Roberts, the judge said he was not going to order reparation, as it was likely to open the wounds for Mr Stoermer's family rather than close them.

He disqualified Roberts  from driving for  two years.