Charge after log falls off truck

POLICE have charged a truck driver with carrying an unsecured load after an incident in Port Chalmers last week.

A large log fell from the back of a logging truck in George St on Thursday last week, after the driver swerved to avoid hitting another vehicle.

The incident led to renewed calls for the speed limit on the town’s main street to be reduced to 30kmh.

But Sergeant Andrew Savage, of the police commercial vehicle investigation unit, said information from the GPS tracker provided by the trucking company and the driver showed speed had not been a factor.

Police did not attend the incident but subsequently followed up the matter with the trucking company, Sgt Savage said.

After speaking to the driver and other witnesses it appeared a car had pulled out in front of the truck, causing the truck driver to swerve, which led to the log falling off, he said.

‘‘At the end of the day he was driving with an unsecured load, so he’s been charged with that, but speed was definitely not a factor.’’

There had been about three other similar incidents investigated by police in the past 12 months, he said.

WorkSafe was not notified of the incident.

Last month, about 20 protesters spent half an hour stopping every truck at the pedestrian crossing at the port end of George St, holding up signs saying ‘‘30km’’.

The aim was to get a permanent 30kmh speed limit from the Wickliffe Tce intersection to the end of the street, either imposed by the NZ Transport Authority, or selfimposed by the freight industry.

Port Otago chief executive Kevin Winders has said he would contact trucking companies to see if they would enforce a 30kmh speed limit on their fleets.