Brakeless truck careers down Stuart St

Frantic warnings before Dunedin crash

THE driver of a truck whose brakes apparently failed on Stuart St in Dunedin tried frantically to warn motorists to get out of his way before his truck flipped outside King Edward Court.

St John spokesman Gerard Campbell said the man, in his 40s, was taken to Dunedin Hospital with moderate injuries about 11.30am yesterday. Two parked cars were damaged but the only injuries were to the driver.

One of those cars belonged to King Edward Court manager Roberta Coutts. Her yellow Hyundai Getz hatchback, called Buttercup, was damaged after the truck rolled.

Ms Coutts said she watched the truck hurtle downhill after its brakes failed, its horn blaring.

‘‘He was hooting, trying to warn everyone his brakes had failed.’’

The driver attempted to turn up York Pl but rolled his vehicle, which came to rest on its side near the steps of the former technical college, she said. Ms Coutts was confident the crash had been caused by brake failure.

‘‘The brakes were still smoking 10 minutes later.’’

Dunedin City Council transport delivery manager Josh von Pein said the truck was subcontracted to DCC road maintenance contractor Downer and had been clearing silt from culverts. The DCC would be investigating, he said.

Muddy water coated Stuart St near the crash scene.

‘‘Because the accident involved a DCC subcontractor, the DCC will carry out a health and safety investigation into the incident.’’

The truck belonged to infrastructure and industrial services contractor Intergroup, which could not be contacted for comment yesterday.

PHOTOS: PETER MCINTOSH Runaway . . . A witness said the driver of this truck successfully avoided traffic as he hurtled down Stuart St when his brakes failed, before the truck rolled outside King Edward Court and he sustained moderate injuries.