A Cromwell woman is angry her car was "totalled" by a vehicle that had been "pink-stickered" but was allowed back on the road by police.
Pink stickers are issued by police when they believe a vehicle is not in a safe condition to be driven on the road.
Police also have the option to issue green stickers when they believe a vehicle does not comply with road regulations or rules.
Green-stickered vehicles could be driven directly home or to a place of repair along a predetermined route and at a set speed.
The accident occurred in Cromwell recently and the woman, who declined to be named, said she had just walked away from her car, parked at the Alpha St reserve, "when there was a mighty crash, my car was hit, mounted the footpath and knocked on to the grass".
Her Nissan Primera received about $10,000 worth of damage and was written off.
"I got such a fright and couldn't stop shaking. If it had happened 10 seconds earlier I would've been standing where the car had hit."
She understood the 4WD vehicle that hit hers had been involved in an accident in Roxburgh the day before, after running into a fence when the driver was dodging a dog on the road.
It had been pink-stickered, but a policeman had given permission for the owners to drive it back to Bannockburn, she said.
"Once it's pink-stickered, it should be off the road. How do they know how damaged the vehicle was in the first accident? They should've had to tow it home or put it on a trailer. I think it's wrong that it was being driven, placing other people at risk."
Senior Sergeant Jill Woods, of Alexandra, said a vehicle that received a sticker was not automatically banned from the road.
"Legally, it depends on what is written on the piece of paper that is issued with the sticker. There are circumstances where there can be directions that allow the car to be driven."
