Runaway log trailer misses house by centimetres

Harry Toka (at window) says his front fence stopped the trailer smashing into his house. Photo / APN

Rotorua man Harry Toka is thankful he wasn't in bed when a truckload of logs smashed through his fence, coming to rest less than a metre from where he sleeps.

Just before 8am on Wednesday, a bar joining the trailer of the Fernz logging truck to the cab snapped as the driver went through the roundabout at the junction of Te Ngae and Owhata Rds, heading towards Mt Maunganui.

About 20 large logs from the trailer swung into the yard as the truck driver drove forward, and the logs and trailer stopped just short of the wall outside Mr Toka's room.

Mr Toka, who drives trucks on a late shift, was visiting family when he received a text telling him there was a truck in his front garden.

"It could have been a lot worse," he said.

"If it wasn't for the fence it would have come straight through the wall. Just lucky I wasn't home, really. I could have been asleep."

Over the seven years he has lived in the unit, Mr Toka said he had seen many crashes at the intersection, including a fatal accident last year.

"There's about one a year here," he said.

The driver of the Tokoroa company's truck, who didn't want to be identified, said he heard a bang just before the trailer crashed through the fence.

He had picked up the load from Reporoa and was heading to the Port of Tauranga.

"I stopped and [the trailer] kept going," he said. "I'm just glad it stopped where it did."

It was his first incident in 22 years of driving, the driver said.

"All I could see was the trailer still going and I thought, 'Woo, what's going on?"' he said.

"Then I breathed a sigh of relief because no one was injured."

Fernz management could not be reached for comment.

Te Ngae resident Blanche Richie said it was sheer luck no one was on the pavement at the time.

"Normally there are school kids and adults walking there. Someone could have been decapitated ... those logs look pretty unforgiving," she said.

Caltex Fix manager Prasad Pilla said he heard a loud sound outside and saw the accident unfold.

"He was skidding ... he was going so slow. It was like something had snapped."

Traffic was diverted while the truck was moved.

- APN