Police praise efforts of man and woman in bringing truck under control

Police are praising the efforts of a man and a woman after an out of control truck was brought to a stop on the Auckland Southern Motorway on Thursday afternoon.

Just after 4pm, a truck heading south at the Newmarket flyover began hitting the media barrier, and the male driver aged 41 driver died. At this stage of the investigation, it is believed the driver of the truck suffered from a medical condition, but that is yet to be determined by the coroner

The driver of a second truck, used his vehicle as a set of brakes to bring the other truck to a stop while a woman passenger in the truck, which was out of control, managed to steer the vehicle and bring it across twoi lanes. The incident came to an end at the Tecoma off ramp, where the truck was brought to a halt, a distance of 3.3 kilometres.

Head of the Serious Crash Unit, Acting Sergeant Stu Kearns says, "The actions of the passenger in the truck and driver of the second truck must be commended as without their efforts, the truck may not have been stopped without other vehicles being hit and people injured."

"Together the two people through their quick actions brought an out of control situation to an end, for which they must be thanked," says Acting Sergeant Kearns.

A recommendation will be made to the District Commander for official recognition of their actions.

Police can release the name of the truck driver who died on Auckland's Southern Motorway yesterday afternoon.

Michael Peter Whiu of Otahuhu, aged 41.

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