Adelaide truckie James Rundle has been recognised as a Bridgestone Bandag Highway Guardian after coming to the aid of a driver whose vehicle had rolled off the side of a road and down a steep embankment in South Australia.
As first reported by Big Rigs in October 2021, the Musico Refrigerated Transport driver was enroute to deliver eggs when he came across suspicious tyre marks on the highway.
After initially thinking it was a past incident, Rundle doubled back to the scene to reinvestigate and discovered a driver trapped in their rolled-over vehicle which was down the embankment.
Rundle alerted emergency services and administered first aid to the crash victim, waiting alongside them until they were taken to hospital.
The driver had been trapped for several hours when they were found, and Rundle’s actions saved their life.
Bridgestone Australia and New Zealand managing director, Heath Barclay, commended Rundle on his gut instinct to go back and investigate further.
“James Rundle is a credit to the Australian trucking industry, and the roads would be a much safer place if there were more people like him,” Barclay said.
“Not only was he vigilant in his daily duties and acutely aware of his surrounds, but he displayed incredible initiative by questioning the tyre marks and then going to the driver’s aid by alerting emergency services and providing first aid.
“We’re delighted to recognise James as a Bridgestone Bandag Highway Guardian for his perception of the situation and for taking action.”
Australian Trucking Association chair David Smith joined Bridgestone and Bandag in congratulating James Rundle on his milestone accolade, which had been delayed from being presented earlier due to Covid restrictions.
“The Bridgestone Bandag Highway Guardian is one of the highest honours in our industry, and we’re delighted to award the title to James Rundle. There are thousands of individuals in our industry, and he joins a very elite group of only 24 others with the title today,” Smith said.
“We believe it’s important to recognise those who go above and beyond the call of duty, and together with Bridgestone and Bandag, we take great delight in celebrating drivers like James for their selfless and heroic actions.”
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