Truck smash takes another life

BELINDA FEEK AND JONATHAN CARSON

Two women are dead and another remains critically ill after three separate crashes involving trucks in the Waikato in as many days. 

Meanwhile, police this afternoon named 68-year-old Velma Vivienne McNally as the woman killed when she pulled out in front of a scrap metal truck at the intersection of State Highway 26 and Tauwhare Rd yesterday afternoon.

Truckies and police are warning other drivers to be patient as the toll mounts and video footage taken from the cabs of trucks on the region's roads shows horrifying near misses and motorists taking unnecessary risks. 

Of the six fatal accidents so far in 2012 in the Waikato, three have involved motorists and trucks colliding, and from November 2011, seven people died in such crashes. 

Initial police investigations show it has been other road users, and not truckies, at fault. 

In the latest incident yesterday, Ms McNally was killed after the Ford Territory she was driving was involved in a collision with a truck at the intersection of State Highway 26 and Tauwhare Rd, near Eureka, at 12.40pm. 

Road Policing Manager, Inspector Leo Tooman, said yesterday's crash, which happened about 12.40pm had too any similarities to a fatal crash near Leamington on Tuesday.

"Both crashes are still under investigation by the Serious Crash and Commercial Vehicle Investigation Units but preliminary indications are yesterday's crash involved a 68-year-old local woman failing to stop at a controlled intersection and driving her Ford SUV into the path of a west bound truck.

Mr Tooman said the truck driver was shaken, but uninjured, in the crash. 

SH26 was closed for several hours, with diversions put in place, as the Waikato police serious crash and commercial vehicle investigation units checked the scene. 

On Tuesday, Anna Maree Pidduck, 45, was killed and her son, Jacob Henderson, 9, was critically injured, after her car crossed an intersection into the path of a tar tanker at a stop sign on the outskirts of Cambridge. 

Jacob was last night still in an induced coma in Auckland's Starship hospital. His father, Ian Henderson, has not left his son's bedside in the days since and other family are also keeping an around-the-clock vigil. 

The family has been inundated with offers of help from the community but Ms Pidduck's brother, Michael Pidduck, asked anyone wanting to lend a hand to donate money to Starship hospital. 

Ms Pidduck's funeral will be held in Cambridge this Saturday. 

A woman, 33, is also fighting for her life after her Ford Laser and a truck collided on SH25, 5km west of Kopu on Monday evening. 

JSwap Contractors transport manager Stephen Swap said it was a scenario his drivers encountered all too often. 

Motorists pull out from intersections in front of trucks, perform dangerous passing manoeuvres, and are impatient when they get stuck behind trucks, he said. 

"The driving standards, they do leave a bit to be desired. You've just got to be patient with trucks. If something goes wrong, you've got 40 tonnes versus two tonnes." 

JSwap managing director David Swap said road safety was taken "terribly seriously" at his Matamata-based company. 

It's the top of the list all the time," he said. "You dread every day the chance that you're going to have an accident. You dread it, but that doesn't stop it." 

He was concerned that truckies' driving hours were strictly monitored, but other motorists' were not. 

Video online at waikatotimes.co.nz provided by In Vehicle Camera Systems shows how often motorists under-estimate the size, speed and danger of trucks with some staggering near misses. 

Waikato road policing manager Inspector Leo Tooman said he was particularly concerned that yesterday's crash was the third involving cars and trucks in the Waikato this week. Truck drivers involved in fatal crashes, who were not at fault, often found it hard to get back behind the wheel, he said. 

"I've got a bit of sympathy for the truckies, there's no two ways about it, because the problem is they're up there and they're looking down into the eyes of the motorists coming towards them and there's not a hell of a lot they can do about it," he said. "It's pretty frightening for the poor buggers." 

The most recent figures from the New Zealand Transport Agency show that, in 2009, 57 people died in crashes involving trucks. Only seven of those were truck drivers. In 66 per cent of crashes involving a truck and another vehicle between 2005-09, truck drivers were not at fault. 

 

 

- © Fairfax NZ News