Auckland driver feels lucky to be alive, blames AT after ‘rusty’ light pole falls on rare car

Sameer Rajan says a light pole fell on his SUV in Auckland's Green Bay in a moment that could've killed him. Photo / Dean Purcell

An Auckland man says he miraculously escaped unharmed after a “rusty” light pole crashed onto his moving car in an incident he calls “sheer negligence” from authorities.

Real estate agent Sameer Rajan says he was driving his rare Toyota FJ Cruiser on Green Bay’s Godley Rd about midday Sunday when the L-shaped pole collapsed.

Crashing onto the front of his cruiser near the Titirangi golf course, it luckily bounced over his passenger cabin.

“I miraculously did not die - that huge steel pole landed right in front of me on the bonnet a few inches away from my face,” the father-of-two told the Herald.

The impact was so loud, nearby witnesses were “shocked to see me unharmed”.

The pole his the corner of Sameer Rajan's car and luckily bounced over the passenger cabin. Photo / Dean Purcell

A West Auckland principal with her husband and two daughters in the car behind saw the pole “fall down onto the road … and hit the car in front”.

The pole bounced along before stopping in front of her vehicle, she wrote in a supporting email.

Looking at the pole’s base she and a “shocked” Rajan noted how it was “very rusty”.

Rajan said the pole should never have been allowed to get into such a “corroded” state where it put the lives of innocent people at risk.

“I am a father with two young children, what would have happened to my young family if something happened to me.”

Being a “heavyweight”, his cruiser likely saved his life, he said.

But the outcome could’ve been very different had the pole hit the small hatchback travelling behind, and he questioned Auckland Transport’s commitment to safety.

The light pole that crashed onto Sameer Rajan's car. Photo / Supplied

Rajan lodged a police complaint and sent an email to AT.

Alan Wallace, general manager Road Asset Maintenance and Renewal, said the agency had now replied to Rajan and was “very concerned about this unfortunate incident”.

It was now under investigation.

Wallace said the weekend’s “very high wind” resulted in the “isolated column failure”.

“The high winds also temporarily closed the Auckland Harbour Bridge, caused widespread power outages, and damaged trees and vegetation,” he said.

“This was a rare, unusual, and isolated incident due to extreme weather conditions that caused one column of some 80,000 in the Auckland area to fail.”

Public safety was always AT’s “top priority” and upon receiving the emergency call about the pole coming down, they urgently sent a contractor to the scene to make it safe, Wallace said.

The city’s light poles had been getting safer in recent times due to AT progressively replacing old concrete columns with lightweight poles like the one that fell, he said.

“AT’s octagonal steel columns are designed intentionally as a lightweight, frangible structure that progressively deforms or deflects under impact by a vehicle.

“This minimises the potential hazard to vehicle occupants through low or no deceleration with minimal damage to the vehicle.”

The base of the pole that Sameer Rajan and a witness say was very rusty. Photo / Supplied

Wallace said the pole that came down had last been checked in 2021 and deemed “acceptable”.

AT’s insurance team was now making contact with Rajan, Wallace said.

Rajan said he was also in the dumps about his beloved cruiser.

“It’s a very rare car, you have only five in the country, and if they write it off, I’m going to be gutted,” he said.

Ultimately he said he was most concerned about public safety. The incident should never have happened.

He said he’d been left traumatised by a flash moment that could have ended his life and separated him from his family.

“I couldn’t sleep last night, I just kept thinking about it.”

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