KEY POINTS:
Police are warning transport companies and drivers of speed and fatigue issues after another truck crash on the treacherous coastal highway south of Kaikoura.
A Halls Refrigerated Transport truck and trailer unit laden with frozen chickens ended up in the sea after the trailer flipped about 4am today, pulling the tractor unit off the road and onto the rocky coastline.
The driver, from Levin, was trapped for a short time but the cab wasn't in the water. He suffered broken ribs and cuts and was admitted to Kaikoura Hospital.
Senior Sergeant Warren Newbury, of the police commercial vehicle investigation unit based at Rangiora, North Canterbury, said the crash happened on State Highway 1 about 6km south of the inland Kaikoura-Hanmer Springs road turnoff.
Many vehicles, both commercial and private, had come to grief on the highway south of Kaikoura over recent years and Mr Newbury told NZPA the number of crashes in the area was "obviously a concern" for police.
Fatigue and speed appeared to be issues that were a common factor in many of the crashes, but Mr Newbury emphasised it was still unclear what had caused the latest incident.
He said vehicles that had driven off the road in the past were not necessarily travelling over the speed limit, but exceeding advisory speeds on many of the tricky corners on the busy coastline route.
While today's crash involved a load of frozen chickens, a truck that plunged off the road near the road tunnels south of Kaikoura in 2001 dumped 18 tonnes of rat poison into the sea, polluting shellfish beds for several years.
"Drivers and companies need to be mindful of issues such as speed and fatigue along the Kaikoura coastal area," Mr Newbury said.
Investigations into the crash were continuing.
A Halls company spokesman could not be reached for comment.
- NZPA
