The parents of a boy who was hit and killed by a school bus on the West Coast are disappointed they still do not have answers about what happened to their son.
Five-year-old Mahuri Hemi Bettjeman-Manawatu was killed by a school bus in Hector, north of Westport, in August 2012.
The boy's mother, Terri-Lee Bettjeman, said it was coming up to two years since her son's death and the police still had not established the events that led up to the tragic incident. Witnesses said the boy ran alongside the bus and was run over when it turned a corner.
Ms Bettjeman and her husband attended the inquest into Mahuri's death in Greymouth on Tuesday, but said it did not make anything clearer. The Bettjemans said it was impossible to understand what actually happened, only what some of the children saw and each of them saw something different.
Ms Bettjeman, who now lives in North Canterbury with her husband and three young children, said it had been especially hard on her other two sons who were dropped off by the same bus and witnessed the accident. She said they break down when they think back to the day it happened.
Investigations at the time of the accident showed the driver was only able to see 45 to 55 percent of the left hand side of his bus when looking through his side mirrors.
On Tuesday Ritchies Transport manager John Harvey told the coroner the company had retro-fitted 85 of its buses with extra mirrors to reduce the blindspot on both sides of its vehicles.
He said children running alongside buses had always been a regular occurrence. He said it frightened him that he used to allow that sort of behaviour and realises now it could have tragic consequences. Mr Harvey said the company sent a memo out to all its school bus staff after the accident to highlight the danger of children running near buses and how to deal with it.
Mahuri Bettjeman-Manawatu attended Granity Primary School. Principal Megan Rich said students were taught school bus safety at the beginning of each year and local police came in to work with them. Ms Rich said they were taught proper behaviour, getting off the bus, and where to stand. She said a police car would also follow the bus to make sure the children were getting on and off safely. She said students had been taught bus safety for years and the accident was a tragedy.
Coroner Richard McElrea said he would release written findings at a later date but the bus company had addressed the key concerns raised by police. He withheld the bus drivers name.
