A pair of Good Samaritans with a truck full of grit did not think twice when snow and ice in Dunedin turned Corstorphine Rd into a vehicle trap early yesterday.
Richard Dunphi and Mac Renwick, of Downer EDI Works, were transporting their bulk load of grit by truck to a Green Island site when they came across scenes of chaos in Corstorphine Rd about 9am yesterday.
About 10 vehicles, including cars and larger four-wheel-drives, had slid across the road and stopped in a variety of ungainly positions - including against each other - after being caught out by the conditions near the same bend in the road.
With the way blocked and their own truck struggling to get up the road's treacherous slope, Mr Dunphi said the decision to stop and help was an easy one.
"We got stuck ourselves, so we decided to stick around and help," he told the Otago Daily Times.
The grit they were to deliver was destined to be spread on the State Highway network, but instead the pair spent more than an hour at the street using the grit to help rescue the stranded vehicles.
As their truck was not equipped to spread the grit properly, Miss Renwick was given the job of standing on the back, braving snow flurries while shovelling the grit on to the street below.
That allowed the truck to slowly edge its way in reverse up to the stranded vehicles, where more grit was spread until the vehicles could be freed one by one.
Sam Faavae was one of the motorists caught out by the weather.
He was travelling up the road in a four-wheel-drive when forced to stop by other vehicles blocking the way ahead.
As he waited, a second four-wheel-drive overtook from behind, before also being forced to stop.
The vehicle then lost traction and slowly slid backwards for 20m until it crashed into his vehicle, Mr Faavae said.
The second driver, Sam McNulty (28), said he was driving to pick up friends when he "hit the ice and away she went".
Another motorist, Stephanie Kay, of Ocean View, said she was a passenger in a Renault four-wheel-drive coming down the hill into Dunedin when they were forced to stop by "carnage in front of us".
"As soon as we stopped, that's when the wheels started to go, `OK, no more grip, time to slide'.
"I was . . . terrified," she said.
Their vehicle came to a halt in the middle of the road, joining several others, and stayed there until another passing motorist - driving a four-wheel-drive equipped with chains - towed them to the safety of a vacant driveway.
The couple did not get the man's name, but Mrs Kay said there was "some guy out there we want to thank".
