A drunk driver, three times over the legal blood alcohol limit, fell asleep behind the wheel before the crash that killed both him and his passenger.
Charles Gerrard Walford, 40, and David James Rotorangi, 47, were killed when the ute Walford was driving veered off State Highway 2, neared Hastings, on October 23 last year.
The Mitsubishi ute, owned by Rotorangi, hit a dirt bank before tumbling down the road, coming to a rest at the bottom of a ditch.
The force of the crash threw the men from the vehicle and they were found dead at the scene.
Neither man was wearing a seatbelt.
In findings released today Hastings Coroner Chris Devonport ruled, given Walford's high blood alcohol levels - 264 milligrams of alcohol per 100 millilitres of blood - combined with erratic driving and apparent failure to take evasive action to avoid the crash, that he had fallen asleep behind the wheel.
Walford sustained multiple head, chest and abdominal injuries in the crash, while Rotorangi had skull fractures, spinal fractures, and chest and abdominal injuries.
Mr Devonport also found that had the men been wearing seatbelts at the time of the crash, they may have possibly survived the crash.
Both men had been drinking at a wedding reception in Waipukurau before the crash. Relatives had urged the men not to leave, because they were drunk.
NZN