Teen killed day before he started high school had been rushing home for family event

A teenager was likely to have been rushing home on his bike when he was fatally struck by a van the day before he started high school.

Joshua Mou, 13, died in Hawke’s Bay Hospital a day after sustaining critical injuries when hit by the van on Southampton Road in Hastings on the evening of January 28, 2019, a coroner has found.

At about 2pm Joshua had left his home on his bicycle to meet friends, and then collect some stationery items from Hastings Boys’ High School, where he was due to start the next day.

He and a friend went to a skate park, where they met others, then began riding up Te Mata Peak. At about 4pm Joshua told the others he needed to head home for a family event at 6pm.

At around 5pm Joshua was at the intersection of Southampton Road and Railway Road, and attempted to cross Railway Road despite the traffic light being red.

CCTV footage showed that Joshua got across the first two lanes of the road, each of which contained a car heading towards him from his right. He then continued, without pausing, into the third lane which contained the van that was approaching him from his left.

As Joshua entered that lane, he was almost immediately struck by the front of the van. He was thrown into the air by the impact, and landed directly in front of the still-moving van.

Members of the public immediately contacted emergency services, and went to assist.

Ambulance services attended, commenced CPR as Joshua was in shock due to loss of blood, and transported him to Hawke’s Bay Hospital.

Scans showed had extensive bleeding in his brain, internal bleeding, and collapsed lungs. His condition was too unstable for him to be transferred to Starship Hospital in Auckland, and it appeared likely that Joshua’s brain injury was not survivable. He died shortly before 11am the next day.

In a finding released this week, coroner Robin Kay noted that there was no evidence suggesting the van was speeding and the driver could not have avoided colliding with Joshua. His death was not suspicious, and the driver was not charged by police.

Kay noted that Joshua often rode without a helmet and had not been wearing one at the time of the crash. She also noted that, given the nature of his injuries, it was unlikely he would have survived had he been wearing one.

It was also noted that his father had spoken to Joshua about the need to wear a helmet the day before the accident.

“I believe that Joshua rode as he did because he was rushing home for the family event that evening – it appears that he likely saw the van (and the traffic approaching from the other direction), but mistakenly believed that if he cycled faster, he could safely cross the road ahead of the traffic,” Kay said.

“Tragically, Joshua was mistaken, and his miscalculation had fatal consequences for him.”

Joshua had attended Hastings Intermediate School in 2018. He would have joined his older brother Tyler, who was one year ahead of him, at Hastings Boys’ High.

After his death Joshua’s father Anton told Stuff that Joshua was funny, creative and adventurous. “He wasn’t the perfect kid but as a parent you work with them to help grow them in the struggles they go [through].”

Joshua was the youngest of seven siblings. Anton said for him and mother Leona, their boy would never be forgotten. Anton’s oldest son, Levi, died in a car accident in 2011.

“I think about him every day, wherever we go they are both in our minds and hearts now,” Anton said.