A police spokeswoman said a car travelled through a fence and hit the veranda of a house in View St about 7.20am yesterday.
A Fire Service spokesman said crews from Waitati and Warrington attended and on arrival found a man trapped in the car.
Firefighters extricated the man, he said.
St John spokesman Ian Henderson said two ambulances were deployed and a man with minor injuries was taken to Dunedin Hospital.
The house owner, Pablo Dennison, said he was woken when the car hit his veranda.
"I thought it was an earthquake ... I heard a bang and I felt a shake."
He applauded the reactions of the driver, who was his neighbour.
The driver knew the layout of the house and made the split-second decision to drive the car towards the fence and veranda rather than the more direct route towards a living room.
"If he had not bothered to turn he would have gone straight through the lounge. He did really good; it was quick thinking."
He understood his neighbour was about to put a horse float on the car when his foot became stuck under the accelerator, Mr Dennison said.
