Motorway mishaps block traffic

The rider suffered only minor injuries when his motorcycle and sidecar flipped at St Marys Bay. Photo / Brett Phibbs

A motorcyclist was taken to Auckland City Hospital yesterday after his bike and sidecar flipped in a crash on the St Marys Bay motorway approach to the harbour bridge.

Although the unit ended up with its wheels in the air, bringing northbound traffic to a halt from 5.30pm, the rider - who appeared to be in his 60s - escaped with what police and ambulance staff said were minor injuries.

A police spokeswoman said there were conflicting witness accounts, one of an alleged collision with a car and the other claiming the motorcycle hit the motorway's median barrier.

The sidecar is believed to have been unoccupied.

Meanwhile, a truck carrying watermelons, zucchinis and mushrooms spilled its load - making a two-tonne salad spread out over 300m - on the Southern Motorway near the Market Rd offramp yesterday morning.

The northbound lanes were closed for about two hours from 6am while contractors cleaned up the mess.

The driver and three children in the cab of the truck were uninjured.

They were on their way to a Sunday farmers' market to sell the produce when the rear left tyre blew out.

Meyer Hart, 24, was driving about 10m behind the truck when it crashed, and helped to rescue the children.

"There were a lot of watermelons everywhere. The majority of them crushed and split open," he said.

"My car got covered in watermelon juice and I have to wash my shoes."

Treading through watermelon, Mr Meyer went to the truck and climbed onto the cab to check on the occupants.

The driver, an Asian man, was the closest to Mr Meyer, with the three children underneath him.

The police arrived soon after and the truck driver held the cab door open while the children climbed over him and Mr Meyer pulled them out, helping them down to a police officer.

Constable Brian McKinney, of the police motorways unit, said traffic stretched back 1.3km to Greenlane as motorists edged towards a detour set up while the spillage was cleared.