The driver of a truck carrying a digger that crashed into an Auckland motorway overbridge says he had never driven on Auckland's motorway before and believed his load was under-size.
The Penrose overbridge (file photo). The crash in May last year closed the motorway for several hours. Photo: RNZ/ Tom Furley
Graham Kennett, who denies a charge of dangerous driving, has given evidence in his own defence.
The 66-year-old Taupo truck driver said he picked up the digger at a hire yard in Auckland, where he had no way to measure his load.
He said as he approached the Penrose bridge, he glimpsed a warning sign and took a moment to process what it actually said.
Mr Kennett said the sign told him to pull-over but he decided to head to the middle lanes, believing that would give him more clearance.
He said he'd been under five or six bridges on the motorway already and thought he'd be okay and didn't have enough time to pull over safely.
But the arm of the digger on his trailor crashed into the Penrose overbridge, showering the roadway with concrete.
"I sort of sat there like a stunned mullet at first and then everybody was asking if I'm alright. I just asked them if everyone else was alright."
He confirmed to the police prosecutor Sam McErlean that it was his responsibility to check the height of his load.
Mr Kennett said all he did was check the height with his naked eye, comparing it to the roof of his truck that he knew to be a little over three metres high.
"It was up there but I didn't think it was over height."
Judge Grant Powell has reserved his decision but said he will likely release it next week.
Earlier the court heard from Constable Andrew Ansell, who said the digger on Mr Kennett's truck hit the overbridge with such force that it broke the restraining chains and fell off the trailer.
He said the chassis on the trailer was bent and the ramp and wooden timbers on the tray were broken in the crash.
Mr Ansell said Mr Kennett confirmed to him that he saw a warning sign light up on the side of the motorway, warning him he was oversize.
Instead of pulling over, Mr Kennett kept driving. He later told the police that he had found the sign confusing.
Under cross-examination, Mr Kennett's lawyer, Simon Stokes said there was evidence before the court that there were three trucks in the Penrose bridge area at the time the warning sign went off. He asked Mr Ansell whether it was reasonable for Mr Kennett to believe the warning was for one of them.
Mr Ansell said Mr Kennett should never have taken the gamble that the sign was not for him and repeated that Mr Kennett's response should have been to pull over.
"It is up to the operator to ensure his vehicle is not over the height limit - the warning system is an addition."
Earlier Mr Stokes told the court that the Penrose overbridge was notorious for being hit and was the lowest bridge on Auckland's motorway network.
Mr Stokes questioned Zane Davidson, an engineer for NZTA's motorway network, around work done on the bridge.
Mr Davidson confirmed that for the four years he's been working in his role, the overbridge has been hit four times.
He said prior to Mr Kennett's crash, the bridge had an electronic warning sign attached to it but it was damaged in a crash.
Mr Davidson said there was no legal requirement for NZTA to have height warning signs on bridges and no other bridges on Auckland's motorway had them.
But he said since the crash, the bridge has three sensors surrounding it and warning signs mounted to it.
The court has also heard from a witness who was driving next to Mr Kennett's truck when the crash happened. He described hearing an "almighty bang" before driving through a haze of hydraulic fluid.
Hayden Bishop was on his way home on Auckland's southern motorway when he noticed a warning sign on the side of the motorway that there was an oversize vehicle.
He said he was in shock after the crash and took a bit of time to come to terms with what happened.
Under cross-examination from Mr Stokes, Mr Kennett confirmed there were three trucks near the bridge when he noticed the warning sign go off.
Mr Stokes told the court in his opening address that of the 12 previous bridge crashes - 10 had been given an infringement notice and two other drivers have faced the lesser charge of careless driving.
He said the normal warning system had been dismantled and replaced with an inferior warning sign.
The trial, before Judge Grant Powell, is due to wrap up this afternoon after Mr Kennett gives evidence.
