Coroner praises bystander’s actions to help injured truckie

A TASMANIAN coroner has praised the actions of a man who removed an injured concrete truck driver from under fallen power lines.

David Blackwell, who was outside his home on Tea Tree Road, Campania, also provided first aid and reassurance until help arrived, after he saw the driver thrown through the windscreen of the out of control vehicle.

Driver Michael Robert Thomspon, 55, died a few hours after he was taken to the Royal Hobart Hospital with chest injuries on December 14, 2017.

Mr Thompson, an experienced truck driver, and his partner lived at Rokeby and he was employed full-time with Best Mix Concrete.

Coroner Olivia McTaggart found Mr Thompson was not wearing a seatbelt that day — a decision she said most probably cost him his life.

Mr Thompson was driving on Tea Tree Rd after being loaded with cement destined for an address in Old Beach.

He was not able to maintain the line as he tried to negotiate a right-hand curve in the road.

“As a result of Mr Thompson

trying to keep the truck on the road, and due to the weight shift from one side of the vehicle to the other, a tyre scuff mark was made on the surface of the road by the passenger side tyres of the vehicle which continued for a total distance of 110m,” Ms McTaggart said in her findings.

His truck left the road, tipped on to its passenger side and hit an embankment.

Ms McTaggart found Mr Thompson was likely ejected through the windscreen on impact.

During the truck’s slide to final rest, a power pole was snapped off at the ground, bringing down power lines.

Mr Blackwell saw the driver being ejected from the windscreen. He ran inside and dialled triple-0 then flagged down another truck for assistance. With the help of two passers-by who were both doctors, Mr Thompson was moved to a concrete apron in front of the nearby fire station.

The two doctors assisted Mr Thompson with basic medical management until the ambulance paramedics arrived.

Mr Thompson died of chest injuries in the Royal Hobart Hospital later that day.