Police say a young farmer is lucky to be alive after he was knocked off his quadbike by a car in Waikaura, just west of Duntroon, on Thursday morning.
Senior Constable Craig Bennett, of Kurow, said there were two reasons why the farmer did not die: he was wearing a helmet and the driver of the other vehicle involved was not travelling at an excessive speed.
The farmer (36) was on a roadway when he was struck from behind by a vehicle, driven by a Waitaki local (40), who was travelling in the same direction.
The quadbike was flipped and the man suffered minor injuries.
Snr Const Bennett said the local car driver was travelling at 90kmh. Had he been driving at more than 100kmh the farmer, moving at about 30kmh, would have been struck at a much higher relative speed difference. As it happened, the farmer was struck at a speed differential of 60kmh and has survived.
He said the driver who struck the quadbike had been shaken by the experience.
It was unknown yet if charges would be laid as police inquiries into the crash were continuing.
