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Arafura Times
NEWS FOR EAST ARNHEM LAND, INCLUDING NHULUNBUY AND YIRRKALA
$2 – EDITION 909, 3 - 9 October 2012
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Take care on this corner SEPTEMBER 6
SEPTEMBER 26 SEPTEMBER 26
allowing movement of the machine on the back of the truck during the blowout. Although they were heavy duty straps, thick chains could have been a more-secure option. The truck was removed from the road side and was to be retrieved by the insurance company. Levai Civil Engineering (LCE) recovered the excavator and truck on Thursday and Friday taking them both to Nhulunbuy where they were loaded on a truck to be returned to Darwin The first crash was on September 6 when the driver of semi-trailer failed to negotiate a right-hand bend and toppled into some trees. The 46-year-old driver sustained superficial injuries. The owner retrieved the vehicle which was carrying perishable goods into Nhulunbuy. It appears the driver hit some loose gravel on the left-hand side of the road and, when he hardened his turn, the vehicle yawed and toppled over. The driver had driven the road numerous times previously but not in the vehicle that was involved. The owners of the truck, Nhulunbuy Freight Services, sent staff out to the crash site to secure the site while the goods were being retrieved. The freight was mainly dry goods and refrigerated goods and those that could not be saved were destroyed at
TWO trucks have crashed on the same corner of the Arhem Highway about 80km from Nhulunbuy within a few weeks of each other. Last Wednesday, September 26, a driver carrying a small excavator failed to negotiate the bend at around 1pm. The 28-year-old Irish national appeared not to be licensed to drive the mediu- rigid truck. Both he and his 44-year-old male occupant were transporting the excavator on behalf of of a Darwin company and were heading to Gove before heading to a local community to carry out some work. Both returned to Darwin on Thursday morning. The driver may face charges pending further investigation. He told police he suffered a blowout as he was negotiating the slight bend at about 40km and that appeared to be the case as the back left outer tyre indicated such damage. Police suspect that his apparent lack of experience with that type of vehicle, his lack of local knowledge about the road conditions, and his overall lack of experience may have been contributing factors. Another contributing factor may have been the canvas strapping used to secure the excavator not holding and
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the site. A spokesman for the freight service said most miscellaneous items were salvaged. “The food was for a variety of businesses around town and thousands of dollars of food and alcohol were lost. “We had people to the site within hours and then had shifts of people not only cleaning out the truck but also staying with the truck day and night until it was removed. “This driver was not the regular driver but was experienced and has done the trip a number of times previously. He was admitted to hospital overnight and released the next day.” The driver had been able to call for help as satellite phones are standard equipment on NFS trucks and a local also on the road was on the scene within minutes. John Tourish from NFS said they had been travelling the route for five years and this was their first accident. He suggested a few more cautionary signs along the road could be advantageous. Officer-in-charge of Nhulunbuy Police Senior Sergeant Brendan Muldoon said drivers, whether they be driving trucks or cars, need to be extra cautious along the highway. “They need to drive to the road conditions and be aware of the problems that may arise,” he said.
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