Truck’s slow-motion ditch tip

A truck that fell into a ditch was trying to move over to allow an oncoming truck to pass comfortably, police say.

The driver was heading west on State Highway 63 through Renwick, west of Blenheim, when he drove off the road about 2.15am on Tuesday.

Marlborough highway patrol team leader Sergeant Barrie Greenall said there was no room to pull over, but the driver only moved slightly to the left.

‘‘It’s a very narrow piece of road with no significant shoulder, and he moved over slightly and the wheels dropped off the sealed road, and it became very unrecoverable,’’ Greenall said.

‘‘He’s attempted to correct it but once the wheels left the seal the truck has started to travel into the watercourse.’’

Evidence at the scene suggested he was driving well under the speed limit at the time, Greenall said.

The driver was not hurt. The road was closed and a diversion put in place through Renwick.

Overhead power lines prevented a crane from removing the truck, so insurance contractors were called to unload the truck by hand about 9am.

It took several hours to unload the large bags of dog biscuits and other grocery items, before a heavy lifting truck dragged the truck from the ditch.

‘‘It’s not the ideal way to do it, because sometimes that sort of method can cause more damage to the vehicle,’’ Greenall said.

The road reopened about 7pm. Police were still investigating, but it was unlikely the driver would face any charges, Greenall said.

‘‘It was a minor cause for a significant event,’’ he said.

‘‘The sealed surface just ends after the white line. It was never designed for the amount of heavy traffic it’s still taking. But when you consider the last 18 months it’s been used as a diversion for heavy vehicles, we’ve had few incidents there and that makes it unlikely there will be another one. There are other parts of the highway that are worse.

‘‘The logistics of State Highway 1 at the moment, it’s causing trucks to continue taking the alternate route. When you’ve got freight deadlines and drivers with restricted hours, a lot of them still prefer it.’’