An unaccompanied learner driver died after losing control of his vehicle at speeds estimated up to 128kph on a winding rural road, a coroner has found.
Steile Veenendaal, 16, was killed on July 18, 2025, following a two-vehicle collision on Waitohu Valley Road in Ōtaki, about an hour north of Wellington.
In findings released on Friday, Coroner Ruth Thomas determined that Veenendaal died from multiple injuries sustained in a motor vehicle accident after his car crossed into the path of an oncoming truck.
Veenendaal, a champion boxer from Levin, only held a learner licence and was scheduled to sit his restricted test the following week. A condition of his licence required him to drive with a supervisor, but he was alone in his blue Honda Integra at the time of the crash.
The findings noted that Veenendaal’s mother had made her son promise to drive only with a fully licensed passenger. She described him as a very confident driver who was not typically known to speed.
