TRUCKIE'S TERRIFYING DRIVING: A group of motorists were terrified as they watched a truck swerving across lanes and eventually driving off the road. Vision: The Today Show
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The driver of a Wollongong truck filmed swerving across a busy motorway before crashing through a guardrail is believed to have suffered a medical episode.
The near tragic crash, which involved a truck from Unanderra-based Murrell Freight Lines, was captured by a young woman on Wednesday afternoon.
Emergency services were called to the northbound lanes of the M1 Pacific Motorway near Bushells Ridge, south of Morisset, about 3.30pm after the B-double carrying steel left the road.
Police believe the male driver had a medical episode at the time of the crash. He was assessed at the scene, but didn’t require hospitalisation
In the video taken by Samantha Tuinukuafe, 20, her voice rises sharply in panic.
"Oh my god, don't get too close," she can be heard saying.
As she tracks the truck going over the embankment, she asks: "What next? What next?"
When contacted by Fairfax, Ms Tuinukuafe was unable to comment on the incident because she had signed an exclusive agreement with the Nine Network.
Nine reported that Ms Tuinukuafe was travelling home from work on Wednesday night with her mother's partner when the truck began swerving wildly across lanes near Morriset.
As she began filming the road, other drivers honked their horns at the driver.
The truck can be seen drifting across lanes and ploughing through a guardrail, to the horror of other drivers.
"We noticed there was this truck up ahead that started to swerve," Ms Tuinukuafe told 9NEWS.
"At first we thought he was overtaking cars pretty quickly, but then we noticed he started to cross over both lanes."
Ms Tuinukuafe's companion and other motorists immediately pulled over and ran to the driver's aid.
"We really just wanted to help him out, it was quite shocking as well," Ms Tuinukuafe told 9News. "It was quite scary watching him going all over the place and not knowing what was going to happen."
The driver of the truck was breath-tested, and the result was negative.
The NSW Transport Workers’ Union has questioned Murrell Freight Lines’ operations.
“While a full investigation of this incident is ongoing, we have had concerns about this operator for a number of years on issues such as fatigue management, lack of consultation with drivers and a host of other problems,” TWU NSW secretary Michael Aird told the Mercury.
“We hope that the RMS and the police will now have a long hard look at the entire operation after what was almost a tragedy.”
The Mercury has contacted Murrell Freight Lines for comment.