A driver has been charged after an estimated 840kg of metal shards came loose from his truck, damaging hundreds of vehicles on a busy highway.
About 25km of the M1 Motorway, in NSW, was closed on May 2 after a truck carrying metal debris spilled its contents between Wyong Road and Mount White on the Central Coast.
NSW Police said the tyres of more than 300 vehicles had been damaged following the early-morning spill.
Commuters experienced major delays, with the arterial roadway only being re-opened to traffic about 10 hours later.
Officers spoke with the 46-year-old driver of the heavy vehicle tipper about the matter at the time.
On Saturday, he was served with a future court attendance notice for ‘drive heavy vehicle not comply loading requirements-severe’.
Police allege the secondary locking handles on the trailer were not properly engaged, allowing the debris to spill along the busy stretch of road.
NJ Ashton, a trucking company based in Marulan, NSW, operated the vehicle.
Drivers heading south on the M1 were forced to a halt following the scrap metal spillage on May 2, prompting major road closures
Pictured is a metal shard lodged in the tyre of an impacted vehicle, one of about 300 vehicles police estimate to have been damaged in the early-morning spill
On the day of the incident, general manager Daniel Falconer said the driver was ‘devastated and profoundly apologetic – as are we’.
‘We’d like to thank all motorists, and anyone else impacted in some way, for their patience today,’ Mr Falconer said.
Earlier this month, Mr Falconer told Daily Mail Australia the driver, who had not yet been back on the road, was left in disbelief following the incident.
He said the driver was only made aware of the spillage after another road user waved him down, claiming the truck had left a trail of sparks behind it.
‘He pulled in a little bit off the road, went and checked his back tailgate and noticed that it was a little bit open and that shards could come out,’ Mr Falconer said.
‘This guy has been doing the exact same run for three-and-a-half months. The exact same run… and this one day it just turned into a nightmare.’
Despite the massive scale of the incident, Mr Falconer said it could have gone ‘a lot worse’ if more of the truck’s 24-tonne load had spilled free.
No one was reported injured following the incident.
The truck driver is due to appear at Hornsby Local Court on Thursday July 10.
