Quick thinking by an Auckland truck driver saved the life of a woman who fell from a Southern Motorway overbridge, causing a mass motorway closure which left thousands of motorists stranded in gridlock traffic.

Rush-hour commuters endured significant delays after all southbound motorway lanes were closed during a serious incident near the Penrose Rd overbridge last Tuesday.

An SRL Cargo spokesman told the Herald the truck driver saved the life of the person who fell from the bridge.

“He [the driver] saw the police behind him with their sirens on. So he pulled over and the big sign on the motorway bridge said ‘pedestrian on the motorway’.

“He looked up and that’s where he saw her hanging there. He slowed right down to about 10km/h before she fell off.”

The spokesman said there had only been a gap of about 7.5cm between the top of the container and the bridge.

“It pushed her off to the back of the truck and off to the side. It’s quite a fair height to fall from,” he said.

“If they had fallen onto the back of the truck, they would have been jammed in between the lifter arms and the container and decapitated herself.

“Luckily, he stopped before they got that far, and then she fell on her side and fell onto the ground.”

The spokesman said the driver returned to work the next day.

“He was a bit upset about it all and what surrounded it all. In the end, he just said he wasn’t working that day because it all became too much for him.”

The spokesman said the company fielded several calls from customers concerned that the truck may have collided with the bridge and caused the motorway closure, which was not the case.

“We had a few customers call that day to make sure we didn’t hit the bridge and when they found out the story was, it wasn’t an issue.”

The spokesman said that due to the driver’s actions of slowing down, he saved the woman’s life.

NZTA Waka Kotahi said all State Highway 1 lanes were initially closed between Ellerslie Panmure Highway and South Eastern Highway “due to a serious incident”.

At one point, Google Maps showed traffic was heavily congested with southbound tailbacks snaking past Spaghetti Junction towards the Auckland Harbour Bridge.