Police prevent potentially deadly drive
Central Otago police have prevented what was a potentially deadly situation.
At a checkpoint near Cromwell yesterday morning, police pulled over an 18-wheel truck and trailer unit on route from Queenstown to Timaru.
The routine check found a large crack in the steel A-frame drawbar that connects the trailer to the truck.
Sergeant Chris Brooks, of Queenstown, said it was lucky police were able to stop and check the truck.
‘‘If they had gone round a corner ... it would have completely sheared off and ... taken [someone] out,’’ Brooks said.
‘‘Part of being a professional driver, you’re supposed to check your truck everyday.’’
A welder was called for a tem- porary fix before the truck was driven carefully to Cromwell to be fully repaired.
It was unknown as yet whether the driver or the company that owns the truck would face charges, Brooks said.
The check point, held between 4.30am and 9am in the Kawarau Gorge on State Highway 6, involved 16 police staff from across the region as well as a police Commercial Vehicle Inspection Unit, NZ Transport Agency staff and Central Otago District Council community road safety advisor Jo Robinson.
More than 4000 cars used the gorge road each day.
Of the 760 vehicles stopped, noone was processed for drinkdriving, but several were tagged for driving with a learner licence or operating an unsafe vehicle, Brooks said.
‘‘Quite a few cars [were] not up to safety standards. ... It’s only going to take a minor crash to shut the gorge down. We’re here to make sure that doesn’t happen.’’
There had been an overall positive response to the check point from drivers, Brooks said. ’’They understand why we’re doing it.’’