Tākaka truck driver's death linked to ‘uncharacteristic errors’

A safety-conscious truck driver killed while trying to stop his runaway truck made “uncharacteristic” errors.

But Philip Holt may have also fallen victim to failures in the vehicle’s handbrake warning system which was “an accident waiting to happen”, a coroner has found.

The Solly’s driver died most likely instantly when he was crushed between his truck as he tried to stop it from rolling down a hill, and the truck it ran into.

In September 2021 the 62-year-old had been delivering rocks to a Golden Bay farm for flood protection works and had gone to help tow another truck that had become stuck in a river.

The men he was working with tried valiantly to save his life while waiting for emergency services to arrive.

Coroner Mary-Anne Borrowdale said in her findings released on Thursday, that Holt’s death was preventable but caused in part by his failure to apply the truck’s handbrake, probably because the truck’s warning systems failed to correctly warn him it was off.

“This was quintessentially a fatality that occurred when the warning systems designed to prevent personal harm did not work correctly,” Borrowdale said.

She was also critical of WorkSafe’s “narrow focus” in its investigation she felt overlooked this vital contributing factor.

Instead, WorkSafe focused almost exclusively on why the other truck Holt had gone to assist had become stuck.

Accident happened soon after move to Golden Bay

Holt’s partner Jo-Anne Foot told Open Justice he should never have been driving a faulty vehicle and questions remained about why he had been and who was responsible.

Only months before, the pair had moved to Pōhara, near Tākaka, intending to retire there.

“Phil and I were so excited to move to Golden Bay and had just begun to settle into semi-retirement life.”

Holt, who Foot described as intelligent, caring and meticulous by nature had worked in commercial real estate and then qualified and gained experience in driving Class 5 trucks in Christchurch.

He then worked part-time for a Christchurch trucking firm before they moved to Golden Bay, where Holt got work as a driver for Solly’s.

Foot said he soon raised concerns about working there and was part-way through the interview process for another driving job when the accident happened.

On September 14, 2021, Holt collected the Nissan truck from Solly’s' Tākaka depot, completed the vehicle condition report then drove the truck to the local dolomite mine to get a load of rock to be delivered to the farm at Puramahoi.

The Nissan had a recent Certificate of Fitness, was frequently repaired, and according to the evidence, no driver had notified Solly’s of any warning system faults with it.

However, its visual and audio warning systems that alerted the driver when the handbrake was not engaged when the door was opened were faulty and had been noticed by at least two drivers.

Holt then drove the truck and load, with a combined weight of 20 tonne to the farm site and waited as other trucks dumped their loads.

Workmate Tony Sparks was driving an 8-wheel Mercedes quarry truck he was reluctant to operate because he had not driven it before, the coroner noted.

The Mercedes got stuck in a river, and digger driver John Hingaia radioed Holt for help with a tow.

Holt parked the laden Nissan facing downhill, about seven metres from the front of the stranded Mercedes.

As Holt got out of the cab, Sparks heard the Nissan’s handbrake alarm go off and then stop.

Borrowdale said while it would never be known, it was possible Holt heard the sound and assumed the handbrake was off, reached back into the cab and moved the handbrake lever into the opposite position to silence the alarm, inadvertently switching the handbrake from on to off.

As the two drivers prepared to tow the stranded truck, Sparks, who was beside the Nissan, felt it move before it “took off” and rolled downhill.

He yelled at Holt who appeared to run towards the driver’s door of the Nissan, in what appeared as an attempt to reach for the handbrake lever located just inside the door.

The front-right corner of the Nissan struck the middle-front of the Mercedes.

Sparks found Holt pinned between the two trucks and unresponsive. He and Hingaia worked to free him and administered emergency first aid until services arrived.

Experts investigate

Police vehicle safety officer Calvin Haycock inspected the Nissan on-site and found the rear handbrake actuators were not applied.

In the cabin, he found the truck in neutral gear and the handbrake in the release (not applied) position.

Police conducted several tests of the handbrake alarm and found it operated only intermittently and would occasionally sound when the handbrake was on, but not when it was off.

Further expert testing helped inform the coroner that Holt had not applied the handbrake and the gearbox had been left in neutral, which were uncharacteristic errors by the safety-conscious and experienced driver.

It was also possible that the dashboard handbrake-applied light was not functioning before the crash.

“If it was not working, this would have enlarged the scope for confusion as to whether the handbrake was or was not applied,” Borrowdale said.

WorkSafe decided not to prosecute, but in 2022 it issued Solly’s an Improvement Notice to address failures in procedures for the recovery and towing of stuck vehicles, the lack of training for workers regarding the recovery of stuck vehicles and insufficient training/ induction for Sparks into the use of the Mercedes truck.

Borrowdale was “unconvinced” WorkSafe’s treatment of the fatality was the result of a lack of training, which in essence meant the fault lay with the drivers.

WorkSafe eventually agreed with the coroner that the warning systems did contribute to the fatality, but felt there was “insufficient evidence” to prosecute Solly’s.

Borrowdale included in her recommendations that Solly’s clarify its pre-start inspection requirements so that drivers check every onboard safety and warning system, and that NZTA acts upon a proposal by the Serious Crash Unit to amend a section of the Vehicle Inspection Requirements Manual for heavy vehicles.

NZTA says it is committed to discussing the proposal with industry.

Foot said Holt’s growing reticence over speaking up about his concerns had resulted in devastating consequences for their family.

“Every family rightly trusts that their loved one will return home at the end of the day and every employer has a duty, directly and indirectly, to ensure that,” she said.

Solly’s has been approached for comment.