Wearing a seatbelt may have saved the life of a Pukehina driver killed when the fertiliser truck he was driving rolled down a bank, says a coroner.

Darren Hockly, 40, was killed when the Spreadmaster Ltd truck rolled down an 8 metre bank while he was spreading lime on the Te Matai Road farm on March 19, 2013.

Police at the scene of the fatal accident.

Darren, a Pukehina resident, had been working for the Te Puke company for eight years.

He was thrown from the cab of the truck and pinned underneath when it came to rest on its side.

In an inquest last Tuesday, Coroner Gordon Matenga said the father-of-two was not wearing a seatbelt and there was nothing inside the cab to hold him in while the truck was rolling.

He described Darren as an experienced driver and fertiliser operator, who was familiar with the farm he was working on at the time of his death but for some reason he didn't notice the dip in the terrain prior to the crash.

'Mr Brown [the property owner], who was closing the gates, saw a pile of lime on the paddock which clearly should not have been there. He realised that something was amiss and went to investigate, finding the truck had rolled,” says Coroner Matenga.

As part of the post-mortem examination, a toxicological analysis showed cannabis in Mr Hockly's system.

Coroner Matenga said he had questioned Mr Hockly's employer, who says he saw nothing from his employee on the day to indicate he may be affected or his judgement or ability to operate vehicle to be impaired.

Coroner Matenga believes if Darren had been wearing a seat belt, he most likely would have survived the crash.

'If he has been wearing his seat belt he would have been restricted to the interior of the cab.

'He may still have suffered an injury but he would not have been thrown from the vehicle, to have the vehicle then roll and come to rest on top of him.”

Coroner Matenga said although evidence suggests Mr Hockly had taken or used cannabis recently, there was no evidence to suggest he was not in control of himself or affected overly by the use of the drug at the time of the crash.

'So in my view this crash was purely accidental.”

At the time of the accident Te Puke Fire Brigade Chief Glenn Williams said the location of the accident made it difficult for firefighters to reach the scene.

Both firefighters and equipment were carried by a 4WD ute to the scene.

Glenn said it took emergency services an hour to lift the truck.