Meth-using, speeding driver with baby in car killed two in head-on crash
A coroner has determined that a mother driving under the influence of methamphetamine caused a fatal head-on collision. Both the driver and the other motorist were killed in the crash, which occurred while the woman was transporting her infant.
Why it matters
The incident highlights the severe public safety risks associated with drug-impaired driving and the tragic consequences of domestic instability.
A unlicensed driver high on methamphetamine and speeding with her baby in the car crashed into another motorist, killing herself and the other driver, a coroner has found.
Peta Kerr, a 33-year-old mother of four, was travelling on State Highway 1 south of Amberley about 5pm on 28 January 2024 with her 7-month-old child in the car.
Coroner Mary-Ann Borrowdale said, in findings released on Monday, Kerr had left Christchurch distressed after telling the baby's father Leonard Bourton she needed to leave town because she was afraid of associates who were threatening to harm her and take her baby.
Text messages showed the pair had argued acrimoniously the day before her death, throughout the night and into the early morning. The couple were living apart, but Bourton said they were engaged to be married and intended to reconcile.
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