DRIVER `HIGH' ON DRUGS BEFORE FATAL CRASH INTO RIVER

Nelson: A man was high on drugs when he drove into Nelson's Maitai River
killing himself, crash survivors told an inquest on Monday.

The four passengers said that Nigel George Palmer appeared vacant and
unresponsive after taking cannabis and herbal highs.

Coroner Ian Smith reached an interim decision that Mr Palmer (20), from
Wakefield, near Nelson, drowned after missing the approach to the bridge
and plunging into the flooded river.

Stacey Jay Bint (20) told how he and Mr Palmer had been out all night
before the accident and had both taken BZP capsules, known as legal highs.

Mr Palmer had only had about one hour's sleep and the pair shared a
cannabis cigarette on the morning of the accident.

That night, they picked up the three girls and bought two boxes of nitrous
oxide canisters from a dairy, before heading to the Maitai, he said.

Kirstyn Adele Williams (18), who was in the back seat, said Mr Palmer used
one of the canisters but it did not seem to affect his driving.

Passenger Emma Maree Henderson (17) said the group also took the nitrous
oxide, after which Mr Palmer was silent.

"He had both hands on the wheel. We were all asking him where he was going
and telling him to turn into the Maitai road but he didn't. Stacey and
Nikita were actually shaking Nigel but he didn't respond at all," Miss
Henderson told the court.

"The next thing, we were flying through the air."

Miss Williams said Mr Palmer went stiff and quiet as the car approached the
bridge.

"I said to him, `turn left', but he just gripped the wheel and drove
straight ahead into the bank," she said.

"I woke up in the water and was pulled up out of the car."

The passengers all said the car was not going too fast and estimated the
speed at between 60kmh and 70kmh.

The car landed driver's side down and Mr Bint, who was the front passenger,
was the first out. He started helping the others before the car began
tumbling in the rapid current.

Forensic toxicologist Helen Poulsen said it was most likely Mr Palmer
smoked cannabis within four hours of the accident.

It was impossible to test for nitrous oxide because it left the bloodstream
so quickly, but Ms Poulsen said it acted as a central nervous system
depressant, inducing a minute or less of euphoria when taken in small doses.

Nitrous oxide, or "laughing gas", is legally classified as both a
prescription medicine and a food product used as a propellant for whipping
cream. A packet of 10 canisters costs about $12.

Mr Smith said the passengers were lucky to be alive. He said he would be
releasing a formal report looking at the wider issues surrounding the
accident. - NZPA