Any time any vehicle crashes there are factors behind the accident.
Sometimes it is speed, or alcohol. Or tiredness.
What is going on with our logging trucks though?
Five crashes in a month. At least eight this year.
Northland has a higher proportion of logging trucks on the road due to our busy forestry industry. So we will have a disproportionate number of logging trucks featuring in local road crash statistics.
A quick look in Northern Advocate files shows that there is a groundhog day tone to the latest spate of crashes.
In March 2013, there had been eight crashes in nine weeks.
The year before, 21 crashes in 2012, nine in 2011 and 15 in 2010.
Otaika Valley Rd residents were holding public meetings in 2013, community, industry and local government representatives were in attendance.
It appears not a lot has happened over the past few years.
An Advocate reporter visited Otaika Valley Rd this week and noted several accident sites that she has reported on.
Road Transport Forum chief executive Ken Shirley says transport operators have to front up to the very serious situation. The forestry industry also needs to be confronted as forestry owners try to squeeze the best freight rate with trucking firms.
Stan Semenoff, of Stan Semenoff Transport Ltd, owned the truck involved in this week's crash and says he does not tolerate any "nonsense on speeding".
It is a responsible attitude. But industry wide, is speed the only factor? What else is going on?
If we haven't learned from previous years, and similar accident spates, then that is negligence.
Presently, it feels that a log truck accident that causes someone's death is inevitable.
But it can be avoided if the relevant parties front up and work out what the hell is going on, before someone ends up with blood on their hands, and a family ends up grieving the unnecessary death of a loved one.
'We now have the internet!'