Truckie fears being fried in pole snap

CHRISTINA MITCHELL

SNAP, CRACKLE, POP: Trolley buses came to a halt in parts of Wellington after this truck ended up with a power pole on its roof in Aro St.

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A truck driver feared being fried by electricity if he tried to leave his cab, after a wooden power pole he hit snapped and fell across his vehicle.

Karl Anderson, 29, of Auckland, clipped the top of the pole in Aro St just after 2pm yesterday. It brought down trolley bus wires and phone lines and Aro St was closed to traffic between Willis St and the bottom of Ohiro Rd opposite the accident site.

Mr Anderson said a car had been in a right-turning lane as he headed towards the city centre. As he tried to squeeze past, the camber of the road started to tip his truck and he "collected" the top of the pole.

"I didn't really know what happened at the time but as soon as I looked in the mirror I knew something was up."

Sergeant Simon Paterson, of Wellington, said the accident was unusual. "He hit the pole and quite bizarrely it has snapped off. They are usually quite resilient, those things, and don't break."

Aro Valley woman Christina Mitchell had just turned into Aro St as the truck clipped the pole.

"The whole truck was quivering with the impact and the overhead wires were flicking like bullwhips, flying off in all directions," she said.

It was about then that Mr Anderson turned off the engine and switched on his hazard lights. But he did not get out.

"I was worried about the wires, whether they were live and would fry me if I got out. I stayed in the truck for about half an hour until the Fire Service told me it was safe."

Ambulance medics at the scene gave him a clean bill of health.

Electricity to overhead trolley bus wires was cut along Aro St for more than two hours, NZ Bus on-road services manager Graham Atkinson said.

"It also affected trolley buses to Brooklyn, which were replaced by diesel buses. There was minimal disruption."

The wooden pole was spliced back together last night ahead of a replacement being installed later.

- © Fairfax NZ News