Summerland truck driver given warning

A truck driver travelling on the wrong side of the road on the Kilmog was stopped and the driver warned by police yesterday afternoon.

A police spokeswoman said the driver of a Summerland truck was having difficulties as he was ''new to driving with the trailer on''.

He received a warning when stopped by police on State Highway 1 north of Dunedin just before 1pm.

No drugs or alcohol were involved, the spokeswoman said.

The incident comes after the Otago Daily Times reported last week that four crashes involving Summerland Express Freight vehicles in recent months were investigated by the police commercial vehicle safety team.

The first crash, which left one of its truck drivers injured, resulted in Summerland being fined $1800 after it pleaded guilty to operating an unsafe vehicle.

The trailer's brakes were found to be faulty.

First Union southern region secretary Paul Watson said that fine was ''woefully inadequate'' and sent the wrong signal to the transport industry.

''It beggars belief that they could impose such a low fine.''

The union did not represent Summerland employees, but had a collective agreement with hundreds of other transport companies in New Zealand.

A pair of Summerland truck crashes at the beginning of this year, both of which occurred early in the morning, were found by police to have been caused by impaired and careless drivers rather than mechanical issues.

The first happened on January 3 on State Highway 1, south of Palmerston, when a truck and trailer crashed off the road at 3am, leaving groceries strewn across the side of the road.

The 51-year-old driver was taken to hospital with an arm injury, and was later charged with both careless driving and drugged driving.

Eight days later, another large Summerland truck rolled about 4.40am on State Highway 1, near Tinwald, south of Ashburton.

The uninjured driver was charged with careless use of a motor vehicle

george.block@odt.co.nz

Comments

And if that driver had been an Asian tourist in a mini ... ???

Sorry, folks, no racial slur intended, but it's quite possible the Asian tourist would have been forbidden to drive after a stunt like that, as seen many times on Motoway Patrol and other Police TV reality series.

The truckie should have received more than just a warning ...

How a Police officer, knowing the satistics for survival rates in car v truck accidents, can let the guy off with a warning is beyond my comprehension ... damn sure I wouldn't have gotten away with it !!

I think the Police also have to be sent a clear message here as well ...

God forbid that that Policeman has to attend a fatal accident where a truck and trailer unit from an un-named company, driven by inexperienced driver, has just crossed the centre line hitting a car on the wrong side of the road ... killing all four members of the same family, including an 11 month old baby ...

Not your same old every day work story ... eh !?

 

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