Beaurepaires - 2001 Highway Hero

Driver's Skill and Bravery Recognised by Highway Heroes Award
An outstanding piece of driving to avoid driving his B-train over a two car accident scene and then rendering assistance that is attributed with saving the driver's life and a passenger from further injury has earned Kaiapoi driver Kevin McEntee the Beaurepaires Highway Heroes Award for 2001.

The incident happened in darkness near Dunsandel, South Canterbury. For his actions, skill and bravery, McEntee receives the Beaurepaires Highway Hero plaque plus a cheque for $5000.

"Truck, bus and coach drivers are often maligned by other road users and this programme is about recognising some of the unsung deeds they perform for the benefit of other road users, frequently at considerable personal risk, " Wayne Johnston, Beaurepaires manager sales and marketing operations said.

"There were eight very worthy nominees for this year's award, highlighting the fact that commercial drivers play a very important role in helping keep the roads safe or helping others in need.

"In almost every case the drivers were nominated for actions they took to avoid injury to other road users after situations created by other motorists."

The nominations this year have included:

• A bus driver who steered his bus full of tourists into a paddock in South Canterbury after being hit by a car, his skill minimising the injury to passengers
• A logging truck driver whose truck hit two big round bales of hay dropped off a passing vehicle, who then wrestled his loaded rig out of the path on an oncoming van full of people
• A driver who's quick thinking helped save the life of a man trapped in a rolled ute
• A driver who, in thick fog, used his truck to help slow traffic ahead of an accident scene, after first helping police with an injured driver
• A driver who used his vehicle to shield an elderly driver from an inevitable crash. The driver had become confused at traffic islands in very heavy rain and was driving into oncoming traffic
• A logging truck driver whose quick reactions avoided colliding with a school bus full of children which turned across his path without signalling
• A driver who ditched and rolled his logging truck to avoid an oncoming vehicle on which the steering had failed and which was drifting directly into his path.

Run in conjunction with the New Zealand Police, Land Transport Safety Authority and NZ Trucking magazine, the Highway Heroes programme is open to any professional truck or coach driver who performs a brave, heroic or humanitarian act in the course of their work.

"We have been delighted by the level of response from the public and the transport industry," Mr Johnston said. "Nominations for the 2001 award closed on September 30. Since then we have received several more nominations that will go forward for the 2002 Award."

« Go Back to the Highway Heroes Main Page