A driver fled a crash involving a power pole and an elderly man in Dunedin today - but a member of the public managed to catch his registration.
Mr Webster was driving south on Kenmure Rd through the roundabout when he saw the top of the power pole come down.
He thought to himself ‘‘oh f***’’.
He believed the white truck had ‘‘spun out’’ while going around the bend and hit a maroon sedan before crashing into the power pole and speeding off in the direction that it came.
Mr Webster gave chase in his work van as far as Mataora Rd where he got the fleeing driver’s registration plate number.
He said it felt good to be of assistance and he was ‘‘pretty chuffed’’ with himself.
He believed the driver who sped off was using mud tyres which would have given poor traction on the wet road when combined with excess speed.
A nearby resident heard a massive ‘‘thump thump’’ sound when the crash happened.
The power went out and then came back on.
He went out to the road where everything was shaking, he said.
The stricken driver was shaken but not injured, he said.
A St John spokeswoman said they did not attend the incident. A Fire and Emergency New Zealand spokesman said one crew attended, from Roslyn.
Crews assisted in making the scene safe and it was left the hands of police and the lines company.
A spokeswoman for Aurora Energy said four houses were without power due to the crash.
A police spokesman said the road was closed for a short period and inquires were ongoing.
Another resident said the area of Kenmure Rd where the crash occurred was an extremely dangerous place.
The road needed a mirror and she had asked for one repeatedly, she said.
People often went through the stop sign at the top of Hawthorne Ave and it was common for cars to speed around the bend in Kenmure Rd where there had been quite a few near misses.
She was concerned it would take someone getting more badly hurt to see something done about the situation.
