A truck driver who spent more than a third of her driving time using her phone in the two hours before she caused a fatal crash has been sent to prison. Ric Stevens reported on RNZ breaks down the sequence of events on that fatal morning and describes the impact it has had on Caleb Baker’s friends and family.
Truck driver Sarah Schmidt left her home in Dannevirke about 5.38am on the day she killed Caleb Baker.
About three minutes later, driving north, she reached into the centre console of her Volvo truck and trailer unit, picked up her phone and unlocked it by scanning her face.
Still driving, she looked at the device for about five seconds and put it down again.
Three minutes later, at 5.44am, she picked up her phone and scanned her face again. This time, she held it for longer – about two minutes – and used it to send a Snapchat message.
Over the next two hours, while driving to the Port of Napier and starting on a return trip towards Palmerston North, Schmidt reached for her phone at least 11 more times.
The 24-year-old driver, who had been behind the wheel of trucks since she was 19, spent a total of 44 minutes using her phone while driving – 38 percent of her time on the road.
Her journey then ended suddenly – and tragically – at 7.45am, when she ploughed into the back of Baker’s work vehicle which was stopped in a queue on the Hawke’s Bay Expressway.
The 22-year-old was later declared dead at the scene.
Schmidt went on to be charged with dangerous driving causing his death, and the injury of another driver in the queue. She had been looking at her phone just two seconds before the impact.
When she looked up and saw the vehicles in front of her were stopped, her 30-tonne truck and trailer unit was moving at 86km/h, or nearly 24 metres per second.
Bereaved mother’s ‘extra son’
Kylee Martin described Baker as an “extra son” in her family – someone who supported her own son, Hunter, through a tough battle with cancer.
Hunter died in March 2022. Baker, his best friend, was killed on the expressway about 4km from his home on 9 February, 2024.
“The knowledge that his life was cut short due to someone else’s decision to use a cellphone while driving is incomprehensible,” Martin said in a statement to the Napier District Court this week.
“It’s a constant struggle to accept that this could have been avoided if the driver had prioritised safety over her phone, instead of sending Snapchats.”
Martin said she wanted Baker’s story shared – to be a “stark reminder” of the devastating consequence of driving while distracted.
At 6.10am on the fatal morning, and just over half an hour north of Dannevirke, Schmidt picked up her phone from the truck console and scanned her face again, holding it for about 20 seconds.
At 6.13am, she repeated the procedure. This time, she started talking. In a three-minute interaction with her device, she sent two Snapchat messages.
The ‘crying times’
Uncle Albert Hapuku Te Nahu Baker told the court he believed Baker would have made a great father one day.
Looking at the way he interacted with his nephew convinced him of that. Unconditional love, fun and humour.
“It saddens us all that he never got the chance to be a dad,” Albert said in a statement that was read on his behalf.
He spoke of the “crying times” experienced by older members of the whānau in their mourning for Baker, but he said he felt the most for the young ones.
“Losing a cousin at such a young age has left them devastated, their voices silenced by the weight of their loss. It is excruciating to witness.”
The dashcam camera
That morning in February was wet. Schmidt had started her trip in darkness but with sunrise just after 6.30am, the sky was getting lighter at least.
About an hour into the run, she picked up the phone again with her left hand before transferring it to her right hand and holding it close to her face, then back to her left hand again.
All these actions were being recorded on a dashboard camera and were correlated later with cellphone data. Schmidt tried to claim she used the phone only for business purposes, but that is not true.
A man’s voice can be heard at one stage. Schmidt was listening to a voice memo and then she started to record a message in return.
She admitted in the message that she was tired. The camera also caught her yawning. She said she was feeling unwell but did not call in sick.
The phone was in Schmidt’s hands from 6.27am to 6.32am. During those five minutes, she sent seven more Snapchat messages.
One minute after putting it down, at 6.33am, Schmidt picked it up again and typed on it using her right thumb.
She then sent another Snapchat message before putting the device down as she approached roadworks at 6.36am.
Karakia said in court
Uncle Shane Taurima was invited to start the court appearance by saying a karakia and leading Baker’s whānau in waiata.
Schmidt stood silently in the dock, completely isolated by new glass security screens from her supporters behind her in the public gallery and the judge, counsel and officials before her in the body of the courtroom.
Taurima detailed Baker’s whakapapa – he was a descendant of Ngāti Tūwharetoa, Ngāti Kahungunu and Rongomaiwhahine. The hard-working young man carried the mana of his ancestors with pride.
Taurima addressed the court and the defendant with eloquence.
“Words can never bring Caleb back, but it is crucial that you understand the depth of our loss,” he said.
“This is not just about one life taken too soon; it is about the enduring impact on our entire whānau and community.
“Caleb was not just another life lost in a tragic accident. He was our son, our brother, our friend, our nephew, our moko.
“His death has torn through our whānau, leaving us with wounds that will never heal.”
Baker was on his way to work that morning full of promise and dedication, Taurima said.
He was a talented rugby player for Napier Tech – a club that meant the world to him.
His teammates loved him, and he was cherished by many friends who were still struggling to come to terms with his absence.
Caleb Baker played rugby for Napier Tech. His funeral was held at the clubrooms. Photo / Napier Technical Sports ClubCaleb Baker played rugby for Napier Tech. His funeral was held at the clubrooms.
Regret for not stopping
At 6.43am, Schmidt was back on her phone, tapping at it with her left thumb and then changing hands and using her right thumb.
As the road straightened out, she moved the device to a better position to look at it and at 6.45am listened to a man talking on a voice message.
Two minutes later, she replied by talking into the phone. She told him she regretted not stopping at the bakery because she felt like she could close her eyes and go to sleep.
At 6.53am she listened to another message before putting the phone down a minute later.
The device had been in her hands for 10 minutes and she had sent nine Snapchat messages during that time.
An unbreakable bond
Jada Baker told the court she shared a tight, unbreakable bond with her brother.
“Caleb was a giant teddy bear who had the utmost respect for his elders and was very protective of those that were younger and/or smaller,” she said.
“He was the apple of his grandparents’ eye and was loved and respected by everyone in our whānau and community.”
Baker died on Jada’s 21st birthday. She had been excited that morning as the family planned to celebrate at the Napier Tech clubrooms that evening. He had awarded himself the honour of pouring a yard glass for his sister.
“I was scurrying for the door when the annual call from my brother to wish me a happy birthday came in,” Jada told the court.
“Despite being late I answered, and I’m so grateful that I did, because this would be the last time I would hear my brother’s voice.”
But her brother did not get to pour Jada’s yard glass that evening. Instead, he was lying in the morgue.
The family later went to the Napier Tech clubrooms for his funeral.
Cyclist on bridge
As the clock swept through 7am, Schmidt picked up the phone three more times, listening to voicemails and recording replies.
The phone is in her hand for a minute, then three minutes, then five minutes. In these interactions, she sent 11 more Snapchat messages.
She briefly put the phone down while passing a cyclist on the Ngaruroro River bridge between Hastings and Napier, but soon picked it up again to continue recording.
At 7.09am she put it down briefly again while negotiating the intersection between Links Rd roundabout near Napier, but three minutes later she kept it in her hand as she negotiated the Taradale Rd intersection.
She sent five more Snapchat messages and was talking on a voice call with her phone on speaker as she completed her run to the Port of Napier.
‘Senseless loss’
Janice Stevens, Baker’s mother, addressed her comments to Judge Bridget Mackintosh in the Napier courtroom.
“Your Honour, I stand before you today, shattered and forever changed, as I attempt to put into words the unbearable pain and anguish that has consumed my whānau and I, since the senseless loss of my precious son.”
Baker was her shining light, her reason for being.
“His infectious smile, his belly laughs, his kind heart and his boundless potential have been cruelly stolen from us,” she said.
“The thought of living without him is a constant, suffocating weight that I fear I will never be able to escape.”
Baker’s mother said that the day of his funeral was a testament to the “incredible impact” he had on many lives.
People from all walks of life, from different circles, came to honour him.
“Any mother would be proud, but I was especially proud of the beautiful, kind-hearted and vibrant son I had,” Janice said.
Southern run begins
Schmidt unloaded at Napier port, before loading another container and setting out on her southward journey at 7.34am.
For the next 11 minutes she continued to interact with her phone, listening and replying to voice messages, keeping the device in her hand as she negotiated the intersections that led her back onto the Hawke’s Bay Expressway.
As she drove along Taradale Rd, she again mentioned in one of her voice messages how tired she is.
Nine more Snapchat messages are sent before Schmidt turned left onto the expressway at 7.43am.
Point of impact
It is 7.44am.
Schmidt picked up her phone just before reaching the expressway’s Kennedy Rd Overpass.
As she came out of a right-hand bend, her eyes are on the road for 20 seconds, but for the crucial 16 seconds after that, she spent most of the time looking at her device.
The dashboard camera records her eyes moving between her phone and the road.
It shows she looked at her phone for up to 1.7 seconds at a time. She sometimes looked at the road for a fraction of a second before shifting her gaze back onto her device.
Six seconds before impact, the queue of vehicles stopped on the expressway comes into view, but Schmidt was now looking at the road for less than half a second at a time while travelling at more than 80kmh.
Two seconds before impact, she looked up. At this moment, she was doing 86kmh.
She started to react and applied the brakes but it was too late.
At the point of impact, her 30-tonne truck was still moving at 76kmh.
Baker’s stationary white Fulton Hogan ute was shunted into a red car immediately in front of him. He suffered multiple injuries and was pronounced dead at the scene.
The red car was in turn shunted forward into the rear of a truck which had just begun to move.
The driver of the red car suffered broken ribs, a hand injury and extensive bruising across her body. She cannot remember the crash and only came to as she was being taken to an ambulance.
Eight months later, she has still been unable to return to work.
The driver of the forward-most truck is uninjured.
A ‘living nightmare’
Judge Mackintosh said she had seen the dashcam footage and “it was quite disturbing I have to say”.
She said Baker’s family had spoken from their hearts at how his death had affected them.
She acknowledged their grief and overwhelming sense of loss, the distress that Schmidt’s actions had brought to their whānau.
Then she addressed Schmidt. She acknowledged that the truck driver was very remorseful and had said that if she could have changed places with Baker, she would have.
“You will live with this moment for the rest of your life and you describe it as a living nightmare,”
“Your focus was your phone, and not just for a moment or two, but for at least one third of your driving. It was very dangerous.”
She sent Schmidt to prison for two years and four months and disqualified her from driving for three years.
In 2022, the New Zealand Transport Agency Waka Kotahi put cameras which could detect drivers using their phones at three locations in Auckland.
Nearly 200,000 were counted using their phones while driving over a six-month period.
More traffic news and updates see: www.trafficfox.co.nz
