Another power pole bowled in Northland (no. 206 since 2016)

The driver did the right thing by staying in his cab after this crash brought power lines down onto this truck and Te Pua Rd, firefighters say. Photo / Peter de Graaf

Another power pole has been bowled by a vehicle in Northland — on the very day the Northern Advocate published a story in which power companies urged motorists to slow down after a spike in power pole crashes.

The latest incident occurred just after 6am on Thursday when a light truck heading towards Kaikohe on Te Pua Rd/State Highway 15 left the road at a moderate bend and demolished a pole.

Police, St John Ambulance and two crews from the Kaikohe Fire Brigade responded.

Kaikohe fire chief Bill Hutchinson said the impact brought down the pole and left power lines draped across the road and the cab of the truck.

The driver ''did everything right'' by remaining in his cab until emergency services arrived and Top Energy workers made sure the lines were disconnected.

He suffered minor injuries to one arm caused by air bags.

Te Pua Rd was closed while the scene was made safe and again when the truck was removed about 10am. The crash cut power to 18 homes in the immediate area.

The police Commercial Vehicle Investigation Unit is looking into the cause of the crash.

Thursday's news report stated there had been 381 reported crashes involving vehicles hitting power poles, street lamps and telecommunication poles in Northland since 2016.

More than 200 of those involved power poles with 109 in the Kaipara and Whangārei districts on the Northpower electricity network and — until the latest accident — 96 on the Top Energy network in the Far North.

Earlier, about 8.30pm on Wednesday, emergency services were called to Te Tii, north of Kerikeri, when two utes collided.

One driver had left the scene when emergency services arrived. There were no serious injuries.

It was the Kerikeri Fire Brigade's sixth call-out in two days.