A truck driver escaped serious injury after his fully-laden logging truck and trailer toppled on Te Wharau Rd east of Masterton yesterday.
Masterton Police Senior Sergeant Jymahl Glassey said the driver had lost control of the truck while heading downhill near Te Kourarau Dam soon after 6am.
The truck had crested the hill by about 300m when the vehicle began a runaway descent and crossed the centreline, striking and knocking over about 80m of fence before the truck and trailer toppled on to its side and spilled logs down a roadside bank.
The driver had been violently thrown about the truck cab during the incident and was taken to Wairarapa Hospital for assessment despite escaping serious injury, Mr Glassey said.
The road was completely blocked until the truck and trailer was righted, and the spilled load of logs was recovered and transferred to other trucks during work lasting several hours.
