Freeway truck crash video released
Freeway truck crash video released
The deputy coroner has released video of an out of control truck rolling and crashing at the bottom of Adelaide’s South Eastern Freeway.
On January 18, the 41-year-old truck driver was killed when he took the truck into the slip lane onto Cross Rd, lost control and slid into a concrete wall.
The truck had missed an arrester bed, despite witness statements that it appeared to be travelling above the speed limit.
In an unusual move, the coronial inquest has started before the police investigation is complete.
Giving evidence, a police officer said the driver had the right licence, but ‘no specific training to drive on the South Eastern Freeway’.
He added there was no apparent reason why the driver did not use an arrester bed, and that a fellow truck driver noticed smoke coming from the brakes.
Yesterday, the deputy coroner finished hearing evidence in a case with striking similarities, and he took the rare move of releasing four preliminary recommendations.
John Posnakidis was killed on the freeway in 2010.
The deputy coroner’s recommendations include more serious charges and tougher penalties if drivers go over 60km/h on the stretch of freeway, or if they flout certain regulations.
Downhill gradient and arrester bed training was also proposed for heavy vehicle licence applicants.
The Posnakidis family is heartened.
“They’re very happy with the initial findings being made and they hope recommendations will prevent something like this happening in the future,” their lawyer Anthony Allen said.
