Bus blown off the highway

UNSCHEDULED STOP: The Tranzit Coachlines bus in a field between Greytown and Featherston on State Highway 2, blown off the road by high winds on Monday.PHOTO/ANDREW BONALLACK

Severe gales this week blew a Tranzit bus off State Highway 2, causing the driver to crash through a fence and into a paddock.

The driver, a Featherston man who was the sole occupant of the bus, had just dropped passengers in Masterton and was 3km south of Greytown, on the Tauherenikau Straight, when he was hit by a strong gust of wind just before 7pm on Monday.

Tranzit spokeswoman Jenna Snelgrove said the crash area was "notorious" for wind.

She said another driver had seen the crash unfold.

"He saw a few wobbles at first and then he saw the front of the bus pick up and fire him [driver] off the road."

She said if the bus had been carrying a load of passengers its weight would have probably kept it on the road.

"Had there been weight in the vehicle with passengers it would have been unlikely it would have blown off the road but we're grateful that there were no passengers."

Miss Snelgrove said the driver, who had 12 years of experience, had been driving slowly and following the crash promptly turned the bus around so the front was facing the wind.

"When you are driving a heavy vehicle you don't have much control with a gust of wind like that.

"There is nothing our driver could have done any differently."

The crash was captured on tape and would be used for training purposes, Miss Snelgrove said.

The driver was not injured in the crash.