Calls to control truck oil spills after fatal crash

Legislative changes have been called for to stop trucks spilling fuel on roads, following the death of a Bay of Plenty man who was hit by a truck sliding out of control on a greasy Tauranga street.

The calls -- from Tauranga's coroner Michael Cooney and strategic traffic unit chief Senior Sergeant Colin Gyde -- were made at yesterday's inquest into the death of 52-year-old shopkeeper Ben Board, of Te Puna, 11km west of Tauranga.

"Startling and frightening" information was given at the inquest about how trucks did not have to have fuel caps to stop fuel spilling onto roads.

The spills, known as "summer ice", were unacceptable and hazardous, Mr Cooney said.

Mr Cooney found that Mr Board died on November 22 last year from injuries suffered in a motor vehicle accident on Waihi Rd.

Fuel on the road, spilled earlier from a truck, caused the accident.

Mr Board had been travelling toward Tauranga on Waihi Rd, near Cambridge Rd, when a truck and trailer unit crossed over the centre line, jack-knifed and collided with the light truck Mr Board was driving.

Mr Gyde said it was raining lightly at the time of the accident and a large deposit of oil or diesel, spilt earlier probably from a commercial truck, was flowing downhill.

The truck and trailer unit which collided with Mr Board's vehicle hit the spill and slid out of control.

Mr Cooney said he was seriously concerned about the number of accidents, many of them fatalities, which happened because of fuel spilt on roads.

During the inquest a Vehicle Testing New Zealand vehicle inspector told Mr Cooney that while there was a requirement to have fuel caps on passenger service vehicles there was no such requirement anymore for goods vehicles.

The inspector said some vehicles were exceptionally oily but they could not be had up for oil leaks.

Mr Cooney said he was alarmed to hear there was no power in the Certificate of Fitness certification procedures for secure fuel systems to be enforced, and that was an "obvious shortcoming" in legislation which needed to be corrected.

"That's a startling and frightening admission," he said.

The coroner said he would recommend that legislation be reviewed and that the Land Transport Safety Authority investigate the security of fuel systems on heavy trucks.

Mr Gyde said the number of crashes caused by substance spills in the Western Bay was significant and there were often fuel spills on State Highway 29 on the Kaimai range.

Mr Gyde said he was concerned there appeared to be a potential lack of legislative control to prevent the spills happening in the future. If diesel was spilling from commercial vehicles there was some fault or error in design or some wear in fuel capping and that needed to be addressed in warrant of fitness checks to stop spills happening, Mr Gyde said.

Peter Clark, from Opus International, said contractors cleaned up fuel spills two to three times a month in the Western Bay. He said there was research being done now into fuel spills, which was due out in August.

- BAY OF PLENTY TIMES