Truck driver's 'miracle escape' as pipe pierces cab

The truck after the accident yesterday. Picture / Alan Gibson

A truck driver had a "miracle" escape after hearing a noise and ducking a split second before a steel pipe crashed through his cab yesterday.

Rescuers are astounded that the 36-year-old driver from Taupo walked away almost unscathed after the steel pipe flew forward, smashing into his cab as he braked near the Tauriko toll booth on the Route K expressway in Tauranga.

Acting Sergeant Mark Holmes of the police highway patrol came across the crash by chance and was the first officer on the scene.

He said he approached the truck, which had a steel pipe hanging out metres through its windscreen, expecting to find someone badly injured. Instead he found the man slumped forward trapped against the steering wheel.

The man was "distressed" and suffering from some breathing difficulties but was otherwise fine, he said.

"He was very, very lucky. He heard the noise when he stopped and had an inkling that it was happening, so he ducked.

"One pipe has completely pierced the cab and that goes through where the driver's head should have been and the rest of the load had pushed up against the back of the cab and had crushed it.

"The whole back of the cab was pushed forward. He's very lucky to be alive."

Senior Station Officer Philip Price of the Tauranga Fire Service said it took about 30 minutes to free the man in what he described as a "difficult rescue".

Firefighters disconnected the truck's trailer and stood it on its own legs before a heavy salvage vehicle pulled the cab forward away from the pipes. Firefighters removed the passenger door of the truck and cut off the gear stick so the driver could get out.

"He was well and truly trapped in there. It was an absolute miracle. This could easily have been fatal," Mr Price said.

"He's a very lucky man. It's a miracle that he wasn't killed. He actually walked to the ambulance."

Ambulance staff also said they could not believe the man was alive. He was taken to Tauranga Hospital with moderate bruising to his chest and legs.

A police commercial vehicle investigation unit was investigating whether charges should be laid.

Total Transport, the Taupo-based company which owns the truck, would not comment.

- BAY OF PLENTY TIMES