Toppled truck delays traffic

This truck spilled its load when it crashed near Waiotapu yesterday. Photo / Ben Fraser

Traffic on State Highway 5 faced major delays yesterday after a truck carrying soap powder and detergent crashed into a bank.

The truck overturned about 4.30am yesterday about 1km south of Waiotapu, but the road was reduced to one lane for more than 12 hours.

The 30-wheel vehicle was carrying soap powder and detergents.

Fire service spokesman Jaron Phillips said fire crews were on site to help with the clean up. The Bay of Plenty Regional Council crew, which is usually called out for spills, was stood down.

Rotorua police Sergeant Chris McLeod said the crash happened about 1km from the Waiotapu Tavern, on a bend on State Highway 5.

"The driver failed to negotiate a corner and the truck rolled on its side," Mr McLeod said.

"Traffic was reduced to a single lane and there were minor injuries to the driver."

Mr McLeod urged motorists to take extra precautions on the road during the winter months.

"It's getting colder and wet so people really just need to drive to conditions. Give yourself extra following distance and stay in your own lane."

The stretch of State Highway 5 has been the scene of many crashes.

Two people were taken to hospital with multiple broken bones in a crash near Waiotapu in April after a camper van and a motorcycle collided. The motorcycle rider and his pillion passenger suffered "life-changing" injuries.

Two Australian tourists were killed and seven others injured in a crash in November when their van crossed the centre line and collided with a milk tanker, south of Settlers Rd, in Reporoa, and in October last year a tourist making a U-turn on the same highway outside the Waiotapu Tavern was hit by another car. Four people were injured.

The New Zealand Transport Agency recently spent about $400,000 improving safety on State Highway 5 near Waiotapu.