By Michael Newhouse
A DELIVERY driver was feeling a little sheepish, but lucky to be safe, after the light industrial truck he was driving came to a crashing standstill when it tipped over, disturbing peak-hour traffic on Keilor Park Drive last week.
The Dandenong-based driver, Yon Pin Liew, was attempting a U-turn at the intersection of Keilor Park Drive and The Link road, Keilor Park, about 3.30pm last Wednesday, 31 January when the rice-filled truck he was driving tipped over onto its side, blocking the left lane to Calder-bound traffic.
“It appears at this stage that the truck has been doing a U-turn and his weight has shifted and it’s gone on its side due to the weight going over,” Senior Constable Chris Barker from the Brimbank Traffic Management Unit said when Star arrived at the scene just before 4pm.
A shocked Mr Liew walked away from the crash uninjured, and appeared a little confused after the incident.
“(It was) lucky I had my seat belt on,” Mr Liew told Star soon after the accident.
Police and the Keilor State Emergency Service spent almost two hours lifting 208 10-kilogram bags of rice out of the sideways refrigerated truck before it could be returned to its upright position and towed away.
The scene was cleared, and traffic returned to normal, by about 6.15 that evening.
According to police, the truck was carrying about 500kg more than its weight limit, with police saying they expected to fine either the company or the driver over the breach some time in the near future.
