The horrific crash site on State Highway 1, north of Waipu, was strewn with twisted metal, broken glass, beach towels, sun hats and boogie boards after the accident, which happened just after 1pm yesterday.
Police said a Range Rover packed with children's holiday gear attempted to make a U-turn from the left-hand side of the road - and into the path of the fully-laden northbound Kenworth truck, north of a turnoff to Uretiti Beach.
The Range Rover overturned on the other side of the road. The truck's trailer and its logs bound for Marsden Pt remained upright, but the truck and cab unit was left jack-knifed across one lane.
The truck driver was last night being treated in hospital for cuts and grazes suffered as he slid along the road in his overturned cab for dozens of metres after the collision, towards the end of what was to have been his last delivery for the year.
He had to be cut from his cab by firefighters. Smith and Davies trucking company Northland general manager Daron Turner said his highly experienced logging driver, aged about 60, told him he was powerless to prevent the tragedy. "They were on the left-hand side of the road and did a u-turn across in front of him, and now they're not here any more.
"The car rolled the truck over."
Photo / Daniel Hines
Mr Turner said the truck was in the left-hand lane of the highway, and the driver was looking in his rear vision mirror to check for any traffic overtaking in a passing lane before he looked back in front to see the car right "on him".
"He was scanning his mirrors as you normally do, and he turned back and this Range Rover was across the front of his truck and it was all over.
"He didn't have time to do anything, mate - next thing he's sliding down the road on his side."
Mr Turner, who rushed to the crash scene and later visited the driver in hospital, said the man was "just traumatised" by the accident.
"He's going to be haunted for a long time," he said of the driver, who he described as one of the best of his 100-strong Northland workforce and a well-respected Maori community member. "He's putting on a brave face but it's upset all of us - we've all been very traumatised.
Photo / Daniel Hines
"He's a very nice guy, it's just a very sad thing to happen to him. But there is nothing you can do to train a driver to avoid accidents like that.
"He needs to be able to settle down, with his wife and family. Right now he's recovering from a tragedy."
Mr Turner made a plea to other road users: "Please take your time, please drive safely, be very careful on the road this summer."
