Top cop dies in crash

CRAIG SIMCOX/The Dominion Post

ROAD CASUALTY: Superintendent Steve Fitzgerald was struck and killed by a truck while cycling.

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A top police officer who had headed the national road safety programme is dead after a collision with a truck while cycling.

Superintendent Steve Fitzgerald - who served for five years as New Zealand's top traffic officer - was killed in the Lower Hutt suburb of Petone last night.

He was riding a bicycle at the roundabout near the Petone Esplanade and was struck by an unloaded 12-metre container truck travelling in the same direction about 5.45pm.

Mr Fitzgerald, 57, died at the scene, police say.

Police Minister Annette King was "very upset" after hearing the news last night.

"He was an outstanding professional who was committed to ensuring the highest standards of the New Zealand Police," Ms King said.

Officers from the Lower Hutt station, where Mr Fitzgerald once served as a senior sergeant, were the first to arrive at the accident.

The northbound lane of the Petone off-ramp on State Highway 2 was closed while the serious crash unit investigated.

A highly respected and popular officer, Mr Fitzgerald had served in the police for 41 years. It is understood he cycled to and from work regularly.

"There will be a lot of very upset people tonight," Police Association vice-president Chris Cahill said. "There is no doubt that some of the initiatives he introduced had a big effect in dropping the road toll."

Mr Fitzgerald served as the national road safety manager for five years till 2005.

During this time he was the public face of the police road safety campaign, responsible for overseeing all road policing operations.

He had said one of his proudest achievements as the top traffic officer was to be involved with dramatically changing the national attitude to drink driving.

Mr Fitzgerald's police career began in Britain in 1967.

He came to New Zealand in 1974 and joined the police, serving in Wanganui, Auckland and Wellington.

He was station senior sergeant for Lower Hutt police from 1986 till 1992 and went to police national headquarters in 1992.

In 2000, he was appointed national road safety manager responsible for overseeing all road policing operations.

After five years as New Zealand's national road policing manager, Mr Fitzgerald was promoted in June 2005 to oversee the struggling 111 communications centre.

He was charged with implementing key changes in the call centres recommended after the disappearance of Auckland model Iraena Asher in 2004.

Mr Fitzgerald also headed a police team that travelled to Thailand to help recover and identify bodies in the tsunami-ravaged islands in March 2005.

Another cyclist was killed in Wellington earlier yesterday. The male cyclist hit the opening door of a parked ute and fell into the path of a truck near St Patrick's College in Silverstream.