Logging truck rolls on notorious rural Northland road

A logging truck rolled yesterday on a rural road locals have been fighting for years to get sealed.

Senior Constable John van Pomeren said the crash happened about midday yesterday on Wright Rd, north of Whangarei.

He said the fully laden truck was heading towards McCardle Rd when the truck went down over the edge into a 1.3m deep ditch and flipped on its side.deep. That caused the truck to flip onto its side.

The truck's trailer was partially blocking the road but remained upright. The crash happened partway through a double "S" bend on a sealed section of Wright Rd.

Van Pomeren said the driver of the truck was not injured in the crash.

He said the logs would be transferred onto another truck and the crashed vehicle would be loaded onto a transporter.

The road was controlled by stop/go signs. While the Northern Advocate was at the crash, another logging truck driver who was negotiating the partially closed road came close to losing his truck as his trailer wheels went off the sealed road.

Wright Rd resident Alex Wright has been trying for a long time to get the whole road sealed to stop the high levels of dust produced by the trucks.

Hancock Forestry Management have a speed restriction of 50km/h along sections of the road in front of houses for their trucks and staff.

Wright said she wanted to see speed restrictions for all road users and speed signs on the narrow road's tight corners.

"There is a real safety issue for truck drivers. If they get it a bit wrong, this is the result. You just hope they don't actually connect with another motorist."

Wright said a lot of near-misses didn't get reported, but crashes such as yesterday's happen occasionally.