Truck driver impaled by canoe

File photo / NZ Herald

A truck driver is in a critical condition in Palmerston North Hospital this afternoon after he was impaled by a canoe that smashed through his windscreen in a freak accident south of Levin.

A vehicle towing a canoe trailer was heading north when one of the canoes appeared to come loose and smashed through the windscreen of a oncoming truck, said police central spokeswoman Kim Perks.

The canoe smashed through the windscreen and impaled the 64-year-old driver in his midriff.

The truck, which was carrying cars, then crashed into a nearby paddock blocking the railway line. The accident happened about 12.30pm on State Highway 1, near the Kimberley Rd intersection.

Fire crews had to cut the man from the cab and also cut up the canoe, leaving the impaled piece in the driver so he could be flown to Palmerston North Hospital by the Palmerston North Rescue Helicopter.

A hospital spokesman told NZPA the man was initially categorised as "seriously ill" but that worsened to be in a critical condition about 4pm.

Motorist Matt Sherlock was the first on the scene of the accident.

"The vehicles were travelling in opposite directions," he says.

"I was following a small truck towing a trailer with 10 racing rowboats, one of which came unleashed at the front and was swinging out on to the oncoming lane by about three metres on a forward-facing angle like a jousting pole.

"After the impact that impaled the driver the truck veered left up the back and over the main trunk line, stopping in a paddock with the trailer blocking the railway line."

A Fire Service spokesman said just one person was trapped in the cab by the canoe. "It was a freak accident."

The police serious crash investigation unit is investigating the cause of the crash.

- NZPA, NZ Herald staff