Canterbury truck driver killed in crash was not medically cleared to drive

Jason Chapman was the guy who “would give the shirt off his back for anybody”. The 51-year-old Canterbury truck driver was described by his employer as a “good and skilled driver”. But Chapman had been battling heart disease and after his second heart attack in August 2023 he was stood down from commercial driving by his medical team. He never told his employer. On November 13, 2025, Chapman crashed an empty logging truck into a hedge on State Highway 7, south of Culverden, after a heart event and died at the scene. Associate Coroner Jennifer Smith has ruled Chapman died from ischaemic heart disease with a contribution from hypertension. “Speed was not a factor in the crash. There was no evidence of yaw marks or brake marks on the road, suggesting that Jason was not in control of the vehicle as it travelled across the centreline into the hedge.