Harbor Bridge accident: Truckies abandon vehicle, jump into stranger’s car

A couple of truckers were so nervous when high winds hit their truck, they abandoned their vehicle and got into a stranger’s Mazda.

It came after a strange gust of wind blew two trucks off the Auckland Harbor Bridge.

The videos have captured the terrifying moments. A high-sided truck can be seen lurching on two wheels before landing on a median barrier, while moments later a second truck is knocked sideways and thrown against the bridge’s support strut.

“Oh bro, it’s getting closer, oh shit,” a nearby motorist can be heard filming the wild weather that hit the bridge around 11am yesterday screaming in one of the videos.

“Oh my gosh,” says another person in the car before the first person notices the second broken-down truck in front of them.

“Oi, that one too.”

“Brother, we have to get off this f *** ing bridge,” says another occupant.

Unbelievably, a double-decker bus can be seen passing an outer lane on the bridge just seconds after the trucks capsized.

The North Shore resident and another eyewitness, John Lynne, told the Herald it was “hideous” on the bridge.

Two drivers of another furniture truck that stopped at the scene to help were so “petrified” to get back into their vehicle that it was being tossed about by the winds that they took refuge in Lynne’s Mazda instead.

“The two guys panicked and refused to get into their trucks, people were just panicking,” Lynne said.

“It was pretty scary.”

The crashes wreaked havoc on traffic when four of the bridge’s lanes were closed, causing massive traffic jams that jammed the city center along with the south, north and northwest freeways, adding hours to the workers’ commute.

The Waka Kotahi NZ Transportation Agency later reported that it could be weeks before damage to the Harbor Bridge support strut is repaired.

Transportation Minister Phil Twyford said he was receiving regular updates from the NZTA, which was working as quickly as possible to fix the bridge.

Lynne, a seasoned former truck driver, had encountered the difficult conditions when heading south over the bridge, moments before the trucks rolled over.

“Driving over the Harbor Bridge I was struggling, and I just have a little Mazda,” he said.

Near the top of the bridge, he saw the first Castle Parcels truck pull into the northbound lanes with its hazard lights on.

“I thought, ‘Wow, what a place to fall apart,'” Lynne said.

However, the Castle Parcels truck started moving again, searching for the inner lane of the bridge.

“Then he started wobbling and the next minute, bang, a gust of wind caught him and threw him completely sideways,” Lynne said.

Lynne’s was the first car to stop near the truck in the southbound inside lane.

However, to his left, a second truck carrying a blue container continued on its way.

A few seconds later, it was also hit by a gust of wind, lifted off the wheels and crashed into the bridge.

“You could also see its wheels lifting off the ground.”

Lynne quickly dialed 111.

“I said, ‘Hey, you better close the Harbor Bridge because this is very dangerous here.’

He also jumped out of his car and was quick to check on the Castles Parcel driver, who raised his thumb from inside his cabin.

“I just put my hands up to say, ‘Stay in the truck, don’t try to get out.’

Other people urged the driver to get out, but Lynne told them to leave the driver there, saying he was safer inside than outside.

Among those who ran to check it were two guys from a furniture truck about 50 meters away.

“I told them to go back to their truck and move it, but they were too scared.”

“You could look back and see the wind swinging it, and they just said ‘no.’

Instead, the couple got into Lynne’s car to protect themselves from the rain and wind.

Meanwhile, the second container truck had disappeared, leaving a large curve in the metal strut where it had collided.

Its driver was able to get off the bridge.

“I don’t know if a gust of wind pushed him back or the truck righted itself because when I looked again it was gone,” Lynne said.

“I don’t know how it went because that container must have been damaged.”

“I sat there and said to the other guys, ‘Did we really see that happen? “.

Lynne then kept getting out of her car to check on the Castle Parcels driver.

“He gave me the go-ahead multiple times. I was texting or calling someone.”

Eventually, fire trucks and emergency vehicles carrying safety barriers arrived to cordon off the site and begin lifting the Castle Parcels truck.

After about 40 minutes, emergency crews gave Lynne the go-ahead to leave the bridge, as her two truckmates returned to their own vehicles.

Between the accidents and all the people coming to take photos, Lynne described it as “chaos.”

“Oh yeah, that Harbor Bridge is pretty scary in the wind,” he said.