Trail of havoc as trucks collide

By ROSALEEN MacBRAYNE

Allan Fannin of Tauranga had just made himself a cup of tea while watching breakfast television yesterday when his world was rocked.

He heard a huge bang and suddenly, metres from the armchair the 73-year-old was occupying, the window above the dining table was blocked by the cab of a big freight truck.

The Mainfreight truck and trailer unit was going north out of Tauranga on Waihi Rd about 8 am when a combination of spilt diesel and rain caused it to lose traction.

It jack-knifed across the highway, hit a light truck travelling in the opposite direction and ploughed through Mr Fannin's front lawn and into the corner eaves of his brick flat, partly demolishing the spouting.

The driver and sole occupant of the light commercial truck died in the crash.

He was Ben Board, aged 53, a Te Puna retailer.

The Mainfreight driver was shaken but unhurt.

"I thought, 'what the hell is this' and went out in my dressing gown," said Mr Fannin, who lives alone.

Had the truck hit the front of his house head-on, the wall would have collapsed in on his kitchen and dining area, he said.

Unable to get past the immobilised truck, a shaken Mr Fannin went back indoors.

"I sort of got the shakes for half an hour or so," he said.

"It took that long before anyone came to see if I was all right."

Emergency services were busy with the two trucks involved.

When Mr Fannin's son Simon arrived to check on his father, he was distressed to find that the dead man was the storekeeper who sold him fresh bread every morning.

"It wasn't pleasant," said Mr Fannin sen.

"I reckoned this was going to happen one day."

His house is not far from a bend in the road, and in the 12 years he has lived at the address, he has seen "some very stupid" motorists travelling too fast.

When a crane finally cleared the truck and trailer unit away, Mr Fannin found his letter box flattened, his roses and orange tree destroyed and deep muddy gouges marking the path of the out-of-control vehicle.

To add to his woes, the crane pulled out a damaged tree and cut the telephone lines.

Mr Fannin also had to cancel a doctor's appointment because he could not get out of his drive.

The accident caused lengthy, rush-hour traffic jams. A section of Waihi Rd was closed and motorists diverted.

In the Eastern Bay of Plenty, a truck with a damaged fuel filter leaked a 40km trail of diesel from Ohope to Kawerau.

Senior Sergeant Tony Jeurissen said police were alerted at 6.30 am yesterday and finally found the truck in an industrial yard at Kawerau.

Senior Sergeant Jeurissen said a decision on whether to prosecute had not been made.

He said the combination of light rain and diesel made driving conditions treacherous and at least two non-injury accidents happened along the route the truck travelled.