Her findings followed a criminal trial in March last year, where a judge found truck driver Arvind Sharma not guilty of careless driving causing death.
A summary of the findings was published last week in the latest Coroners Court Recommendations Recap, which contains coronial recommendations and comments.
Coroner Woolley outlined that on the afternoon of March 13, 2023, the Fields were in their Toyota Aqua travelling along Fred Taylor Drive in Westgate, West Auckland.
At the same time, Sharma was driving a large truck and trailer unit on Dunlop Rd, waiting to turn right on to Fred Taylor Drive – a busy semi-rural road with an 80km/h speed limit.
He turned right in front of the couple’s car, which collided with the truck’s rear.
Peter Field died at the scene from severe traumatic chest injuries, and his wife died hours later in Auckland City Hospital from multiple injuries.
The Police Serious Crash Unit (SCU) later found that dashcam footage from a vehicle travelling behind the Fields had recorded the crash.
A scene examination confirmed that rather than braking, Field had put his foot on the accelerator.
Coroner Erin Woolley released findings into the deaths of Eileen and Peter Field. Photo / Coroner’s office
The findings recorded that the SCU said if the couple’s car had continued at the same speed, the crash “may have” still happened. However, if Peter Field had braked, it “would not have”.
The coroner detailed other findings by the SCU that may have contributed to the crash, including that Peter Field was on “several” medications that could have impaired his driving.
The SCU also noted, the findings said, that his family reported an earlier driving incident in which he misjudged the distance in his garage and may have confused the brake for the accelerator, bumping into a wall.
They had spoken about it as a family, including whether he should still be driving, but found it hard to bring up because of his “proud demeanour”, the findings stated.
The design of Fred Taylor Drive was also under scrutiny, and at the time of the SCU’s investigation Auckland Transport advised that the speed limit should be lower, the road widened and traffic lights installed at the intersection.
‘Borderline’
During the criminal trial, it was heard that Peter Field had seen a doctor for his driving medical in July 2021, where the doctor found his fitness was “borderline”.
On the medical certificate submitted to the NZTA for the licence renewal, the doctor ticked the option: “I recommend the applicant’s licence be subject to the following conditions:” and wrote: “Review 1 year”.
The coroner said in this case, the NZTA decided it “wasn’t appropriate” to review the licence because the doctor had not listed specific conditions or concerns on the certificate.
Coroner Woolley recommended that health practitioners clearly detail their concerns on medical certificates when assessing the fitness of drivers aged over 75.
She said the medical certificate “obviously implied” that Peter Field’s driving ability should be reassessed in a year and that in future, the NZTA should still contact the doctor, even when there are no specific conditions listed.
The NZTA’s response, recorded in the findings, listed several reasons why it wouldn’t contact the medical practitioner if no specific medical concerns or conditions were listed.
This included its view that it reviewed a “high volume” of medical certificates every year and that health practitioners were obligated to tell the NZTA when a patient who was likely to drive was unfit.
Coroner Woolley “remained concerned” that details written into medical certificates such as Peter Field’s would not trigger contact between the NZTA and doctors.
She recommended the NZTA contact medical practitioners in similar situations.
Meanwhile, an Auckland Transport spokesperson told NZME they were finalising the process to install a 50km/h speed limit on Fred Taylor Drive and a temporary limit was in place.
They said the next stage in the continuation of “four laning” the road was planned to restart mid-2027 pending “land acquisition”.
Ella Scott-Fleming has been a journalist for three years and previously worked at the Otago Daily Times, Gore Ensign and Metro Magazine. She has an interest in court and general reporting, and is based in Auckland covering justice-related stories.
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