Four hurt as fleeing car crashes: police

An Invercargill man was taken to Dunedin Hospital early yesterday morning after his Mazda Alexa was hit by an alleged fleeing driver, which sent him careening into a nearby house.

Southern district commander Superintendent Jason Guthrie said a police unit tried to pull over the driver of a Mazda Familia in Venus St, Georgetown, about 1.40am, but the driver failed to stop and fled police.

Officers did not initiate a pursuit, due to the manner of driving, he said.

A short time later, the vehicle with two people on board, travelled through the intersection of Janet and Ness Sts and collided with a Mazda Alexa which was also carrying two people.

A Hato Hone St John spokeswoman said an occupant from the Alexa received critical injuries, and another received minor injuries.

One occupant of the fleeing vehicle received critical injuries, and the other had serious injuries.

All four were taken to hospital.

A family member told the Otago Daily Times his 59-year-old uncle was the driver of the Alexa, and he was taking his cousin to the nearby Night ’n Day store when the collision happened.

The force of the impact from the Familia pushed the T-boned Alexa through the front fence, a pergola-gateway and into the front veranda of a nearby weatherboard home.

The homeowner, Michael Cooper, said he and his wife were in bed on the other side of the house when the accident happened.

His wife said she felt the house shake.

"So I came out and the car was already parked into the veranda ... it’s shunted the whole veranda sideways, took out my fence and wee pergola," he said.

"Unfortunately, innocent people got hurt.

"It was like a Christmas tree out here last night — 10 or 12 police and four ambulances.

"Because the police were on the scene, I just went back inside and shut the door and told my wife to stay inside."

Police remained at the scene until about 1pm yesterday and Mr Cooper said he spent the morning cleaning up the mess and transporting all the debris to the landfill.

Supt Guthrie said the incident had been examined by the Serious Crash Unit.

Although police did not engage in any pursuit due to the manner of driving, it was standard practice to refer the matter to the Independent Police Conduct Authority, he said.

Mr Cooper said the intersection had been the scene of several serious accidents in the past due to vehicles failing to stop or slow for the intersection.

Accidents had also included neighbour’s fences being ploughed through by vehicles out of control.

"Vehicles travel past here at 100kmh — young ones just don’t give a s... and the council are not just going to do anything until someone gets killed here."

Mr Cooper said he would like to see a roundabout installed at the intersection to slow traffic in the area.

By Toni McDonald