A truck driver who survived a plunge of more than ten metres off Auckland's motorway thinks he's lucky to be alive.
Brendon Greig's fully-laden fertiliser truck and trailer unit crashed off one part of motorway at Auckland's Spaghetti Junction yesterday and landed on another section below.
He escaped his crumpled wreck with only a minor spinal injury and small scratches and hopes to leave Auckland Hospital tomorrow, with an expected six-week recovery.
Speaking from hospital, Mr Greig said he could not believe he escaped so lightly - and said it could have been a major disaster if there had been more traffic on the road.
"The sheer damage and what could have been - it's incredibly lucky," he said.
"If it had been peak hour traffic or something like that or a weekday, you know - five o'clock in the morning, there's a lot of vehicles on the road - the potential for major disaster."
Mr Greig credited his truck's modern safety equipment with what he called his miracle survival.
He said everything that happened in the lead-up to the crash was a blur.
Police were still investigating and could not say whether charges might be laid.
The truck and trailer unit plunged through a barrier at at Spagetti Junction on the Southern Motorway. Photo: SNPA / Daniel Hines
Photo: SNPA