Car hit by loose tyre on highway

Police say a motorist was lucky to escape serious injury after her car was hit by a tyre believed to have come off a trailer being towed on State Highway 1. Photo Linda Robertson

A woman was lucky to escape largely unharmed after a loose tyre smashed into her car south of Dunedin this morning.

The woman was heading south on State Highway 1 about 10.30am when the tyre, believed to be from a double axle trailer being towed, smashed into the car, hitting the windscreen at the bridge over the Waipori RIver.

Police at the scene praised her for maintaining control of her car despite its air bag deploying and a cracked windscreen.

She was taken by ambulance to Dunedin Hospital as a precaution, and police said she was "lucky" to have escaped serious injury.

Police were keen for the driver of the trailer, who did not stop, to come forward.

They believed it came from a double axle trailer as it would have been difficult for the driver to keep going if it had a single axle.

The road was closed for a time after the crash, but has since reopened.

1 Comment

Comments

Fitzroy Mon, 30/10/2017 - 1:27pm #

Glad the poor car driver survived okay and was able to walk away.

Disappointing to see the number of heavy trucks, including truck & trailer units, using the Old Ferry bridge at Henley with a 5 ton max weight limit. I counted over a dozen and some would have been nearly 8 times over the bridge limit!

Thanks to the truckies that waited patiently for SH1 to reopen.