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A crash which shut State Highway 1 near Blenheim for three hours may have been caused by a cellphone-distracted driver, police said.
A driver escaped unharmed after his eight-wheeler truck and trailer rolled on to its side, blocking both lanes of SH1 at Dashwood Pass, about 20km south of Blenheim, at 11.20pm.
Constable Dan Mattison said police officers who attended the scene told him the driver may have been texting, or speaking to someone, when the northbound truck failed to take a corner.
"I don't think it's a good thing for people to use cellphones while they're driving," he said.
"From a law enforcement point of view people have more of an obligation to concentrate on their driving and not to be distracted by their phones."
The road was closed while the truck, which weighed between 11 and 12 tonnes, was removed by a crane.
A diversion was put in place at Redwood Pass until SH1 reopened at 3.45am.
Concerns about the issue have risen following police suspicion that 16-year-old Ohope driver Sharleen Lloyd was texting when her car hit a parked trailer, killing her. Her family dispute that.
Police also suspect that a 15-year-old tractor driver was texting when he died in a crash at the Whitford landfill near Auckland last month.
Cabinet this month stopped short of proposing a ban on cellphone use at the wheel in a road safety policy statement.
Lumping cellphone use with other driver distractions and fatigue, the Government indicated that these would be dealt with by education and information campaigns rather than as criminal offences.
- NZPA
