Seatbelt subterfuge kills driver

Ivan Segedin's subterfuge killed him when he was in a head-on car crash while wearing a fake seatbelt, a coroner says.

"Ultimately Mr Segedin's actions in driving without a seatbelt have cost him his life in an accident that he may well have survived had he worn one," coroner Carla na Nagara said yesterday.

Mr Segedin died in a crash on July 22 last year near Okato, in Taranaki, from multiple injuries when his car crossed the road and collided head-on with an oncoming vehicle, the coroner said.

Mr Segedin, 39, refused to wear a seatbelt and had been fined for not wearing one 32 times since February 2003.

Examination of his car found that, though it was fitted with proper seatbelts, an additional belt with a long strap had been knotted above the seatbelt on the driver's side, providing a belt to simply sit over the driver's shoulder, Ms Nagara said.

Presumably this was to create the illusion to a passing motorist or police officer that a seatbelt was being worn when it was not.

Mr Segedin's car had an expired warrant, was full of rust, and an autopsy blood test showed he had taken methamphetamine and cannabis. But Ms Nagara said not wearing a seatbelt was the one variable that made the difference between life and death. "He died when quite possibly he need not have."

His fatal injuries were caused when he was thrown forward on to the steering wheel in a low-impact crash.

No blame or responsibility for the crash rested on the other driver, Ms Nagara said.