A truck which rolled backwards and damaged four cars, a van
and a power pole sits against the broken pole in Queen St,
Dunedin, yesterday. Photo by Peter McIntosh.
A construction materials delivery turned into a
demolition disaster for four cars, a van and a power pole in
Dunedin yesterday morning.
The driver of the Nissan 12-tonne truck was dropping off
three tonnes of building materials at a Queen St address
shortly after 8.30am, when the unattended 12-tonne truck
started rolling back down the street, leaving a costly trail
of vehicular destruction.
Over a 60m path, the truck sideswiped a Nissan Cefiro,
smashed into a Toyota Celica, shunting it down the road and
into a power pole, with the impact causing a Honda Accord to
rear-end a Mazda 323, which in turn damaged a Daihatsu van.
No-one was hurt in the incident.
The four parked cars were extensively damaged and had been
towed away.
Police were yet to contact three of the owners, strategic
traffic unit Senior Constable Bruce Cunningham, of Dunedin,
said.
The area was a popular spot for students to park and walk to
university, and it was "incredibly fortunate" nobody was
around when the truck rolled down Queen St, he said.
The commercial vehicle investigation unit was examining the
truck's handbrake to see if it had been applied correctly.
It was too early to say if charges would be laid, he said.
A lineman at the scene said the truck almost struck a
substation, which would have exploded, causing extensive
damage, had the truck hit it.
Mitchell Transport Ltd owner Bruce Mitchell said he was
shocked when he got the call about the incident, but was
relieved nobody was hurt.
His driver was experienced, and maintained he applied the
handbrake, but that did not seem the case when the truck,
which was badly damaged in the accident, was investigated.
The company was insured, Mr Mitchell said.
Builder Harlem Irwin, who was awaiting the delivery truck so
he could begin work on a basement conversion, said he heard a
loud bang.
"I thought, `I hope that isn't our truck' . . . sure enough,
it was . . ."
Carrington College warden Ashley Day said he rushed out to
the street after hearing an "almighty bang".
Most students were still on holiday, but two working at the
college had walked in front of the college 20 seconds
beforehand.
A Delta spokesman said power was restored at 1pm yesterday.
hamish.mcneilly@odt.co.nz
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