For the second time in five months, John Nicholl, of Outram, feels lucky to be alive.
Black ice in the Manuka Gorge yesterday morning left Mr Nicholl (46) and his family shaken after his Holden Commodore spun out of control and ended up in a roadside ditch.
Three other drivers were also caught out by the ice on the same corner within minutes of each other.
Mr Nicholl, his wife Vanessa and their four children were driving to Roxburgh where Mr Nicholl, a teacher at Taieri College, is a part-time pastor of the Roxburgh Baptist Church. Mrs Nicholl said the car slid quickly and did a 360-degree spin before stopping in a ditch.
No-one in the car was hurt, but all were shaken and the children were ''really upset'', she said.
While the Nicholl family were regrouping on the opposite side of the road, a second car approached the same corner at speed, crossed the centre line and hit a power pole before bouncing back to the centre of the road.
Mr Nicholl said he initially feared the driver was dead.
''He was in a stunned state and I just made sure he was OK,'' he said.
As Mr Nicholl was waving at traffic to slow motorists down, a third car ''slammed'' into the car in the middle of the road.
''Within that couple of minutes it could have all turned to carnage,'' he said, referring to the driver of a fourth car who managed to regain control of his vehicle on the same corner after it had slid and fishtailed from side to side.
''There could have been casualties all over the place; the fact there was no casualties is a miracle really,'' he said.
Emergency services from Milton attended the scene before giving the drivers and passengers a ride back to the Milton police station.
Back in February, the bike Mr Nicholl was riding on State Highway 1, near Henley Rd, was struck by a car travelling at nearly 100kmh.
He ended up in hospital with a broken collarbone, concussion, multiple cuts and abrasions.
As a man of faith, he felt he and his family were ''very blessed and very fortunate'' to have escaped yesterday's accident without injury.
