Auckland rubbish truck crash second of its kind

The rubbish truck crashed 40 meters down a bank on the corner of Hebe Place and Kauri Road, Birkenhead. Photo / Greg Bowker, NZ Herald

A crash which killed a teenage girl this week is the second fatal accident to involve an Onyx rubbish truck in Birkenhead in recent years.

Jane Lee Devonshire, of West Harbour, was crushed when a rubbish truck went over a cliff in residential Birkenhead on Monday.

Ms Devonshire was a rubbish truck runner for the Onyx Group, which is contracted by the Auckland Council to collect bags of rubbish every week from the steep area. It was her fifth week on the job.

The crash comes after an Onyx driver died when his rubbish truck crashed into a house in the same North Shore suburb.

Hebe Place and Radiata Lane - the scenes of two fatal rubbish truck accidents. Photo / Google maps

Avondale man Patrick Harrison, 51, died in the July 2007 crash in Radiata Lane, only a few streets away from where Ms Devonshire died earlier this week.

The rubbish truck he was driving truck crashed over a small retaining wall and hit a house. Mr Harrison survived the initial impact but died minutes later as a local resident held his hand and tried to comfort him.

It took several hours to release Mr Harrison's body from the mangled vehicle.

Yesterday, Ms Devonshire's family arrived on the scene of Monday's fatal crash at the intersection of steep Hebe Place and Kauri Rd.

The family brought a cross to put up in tribute of Ms Devonshire, who they say was "an angel on earth".

They are calling for the council to be held responsible and for barriers, fences or a roading mirror to be erected so no one else's life is cut short by a similar tragedy.

Father Philip Devonshire said speaking about the loss of his daughter was hard.

"Too young, far too young. She was a fun-loving, outgoing person. They need to do something about it. We need to know something will be done about it. This can't happen again."

He said he would be following the loss up with authorities and ACC.

Sister Maria Douglas said she was dreading seeing the place where her baby sister took her last breaths.

It was time for Jane to "rest in peace", she said.

"When we started coming down the hill [to the crash site], I thought: 'I don't want to go any further'. But I had to. She was my sister.

"Rest in peace, I love you so much in my heart."

Following the news of Ms Devonshire's death, residents spoke of three other vehicles -- including a concrete mixer, car and another truck carrying a digger -- that have careened over the edge of the same bank in the last 30 years.

However, an Auckland Transport spokesman said there had been no crashes reported within a 50m radius of the Hebe Place and Kauri Rd intersection in the past 20 years.

There may have been crashes that were not significant enough to involve the police.

Veolia, the company that owns Onyx Group, said in a statement the company had expressed its condolences to the family, friends and work colleagues of Ms Devonshire.

"We are deeply shocked and saddened by the death of one of our employees," a spokesman said.

"This is a terrible accident and our thoughts are with her family, friends and co-workers at this very difficult time.

"Veolia is continuing to co-operate with police in their investigation into this terrible accident."