By ELIZABETH BINNING
A house removal company appears to have been taking all the necessary precautions when a 24-year-old driver crashed into a house it was moving, and died.
The Auckland man was killed instantly when his car collided with the house, which was being transported on the back of a
removal truck early yesterday.
It is the second accident involving a house removal truck in the past week, although no one was injured in the first incident.
Sergeant Jeff Gash said the accident happened at 4.15am along a sweeping bend on State Highway 1, about 3km north of Tokoroa.
"The indications at this stage are that the deceased has failed to notice or take any notice of the warning signs and warning vehicles and driven into the side of the house."
Mr Gash said the house was more than 9 metres wide and covered most of the northbound and southbound lanes.
However, Mr Gash said the necessary warnings - two pilot vehicles in front of the removal truck and one behind - had been provided and the car should have been able to pull over.
Instead, the driver, who has not yet been named, slammed into the side of the truck and took the full impact as the roof was peeled off the car.
The man died instantly, while his passenger, a 23-year-old woman, and the truck driver escaped without injury. The house, which was heading for Taupo, received only minor damage.
The highway was shut down for several hours while officers investigated the scene and cleared wreckage from the road.
Mr Gash said the investigation would take up to two weeks but initial indications cleared the moving company of any wrongdoing.
"Early indications are that the piloting vehicles, the piloting company and the removal company were doing everything right.
"The load on the truck was over 9m wide so it basically covered the whole road. But there was enough room if someone noticed and pulled over to the left for the truck to go pass."
The Land Transport Safety Authority said it was aware of five previous crashes that had involved trucks carrying houses in the past six years.
The most recent was last week when a truck driver and his employer narrowly escaped injury as their vehicle collided with a train in Huntly.
That case was still being investigated but it was believed the pilot vehicles could have been at fault.
By ELIZABETH BINNING
A house removal company appears to have been taking all the necessary precautions when a 24-year-old driver crashed into a house it was moving, and died.
The Auckland man was killed instantly when his car collided with the house, which was being transported on the back of a
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