Parts of a police pursuit in Whanganui, which ended in the death of the fleeing driver, should not have happened, the Independent Police Conduct Authority (IPCA) says.
Calum Meyer, 25, died after he sped away from police on May 7 last year. Police pursued him three times, using road spikes twice.
An unlicensed driver, Mr Meyer died when he lost control and collided with a parked truck on the side of the road, having run over the second set of road spikes.
The first pursuit started after Mr Meyer, who had methamphetamine and cannabis in his system, hit a cyclist. It was abandoned after 52 seconds.
The IPCA found this part of the pursuit was justified according to the law and police policy.
A second pursuit, which lasted 70 seconds, began a short time later after it appeared Mr Meyer tried to drive head-on into a police car. It was abandoned over concerns about the way he was swerving toward oncoming cars and driving on the wrong side of the road.
The third pursuit began after an officer became concerned about the potential harm Mr Meyer posed, especially as he entered a built-up area. This pursuit lasted around 20 seconds.
"Mr Meyer demonstrated risky driving behaviour to avoid being caught by police," IPCA chair Sir David Carruthers says.
"He committed multiple offences and his actions put officers and others at significant risk throughout. However the authority's focus is on whether police actions were appropriate."
The report says police mostly complied with the relevant law and policy, though there was no clear permission from the pursuit controller to restart the pursuit and one officer breached policy when he failed to pull over and stop after abandoning the third pursuit.
"There was no reasonable basis for police to conclude that recommencement of the pursuit would either reduce the risk or was likely to influence Mr Meyer to stop. Mr Meyer's behaviour pointed to the fact that further police pursuits would be likely to maintain, if not increase, the risk that he posed."
The IPCA has recommended police change their policy to ban continuing a pursuit unless police believe the risk posed by the fleeing driver's behaviour will be significantly reduced during a new pursuit, or if it is likely to stop them.
Police have accepted the findings and Assistant Commissioner Districts Allan Boreham has sent condolences to Mr Meyer's family.
"We are very fortunate that nobody else was killed or seriously injured as a result of Mr Meyer's extremely dangerous driving that day."
Police are considering the IPCA's recommendations.
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