A female truck driver had a lucky escape when the truck she was driving narrowly avoided careering down a steep bank after she allegedly swerved to avoid an animal on the road.
A volunteer Weston fire-fighter helping to free the driver was not so lucky, falling down a bank and injuring his back.
At 2.45am today, the heavy motor vehicle swerved off State Highway 1, about 500m north of Mile Flat Rd, as the 49-year-old driver allegedly attempted to avoid an animal on the road.
The truck travelled about 50m in a ditch alongside the south-bound lane before hitting a power pole, which broke in half, and taking out a fence post.
The vehicle came to a halt about three metres from a steep seven-metre drop to the railway line.
''She was a very lucky lady,'' the police spokeswoman said.
The driver sustained injuries to her legs and abdomen. They were not believed to be serious, but she was transported by ambulance to Dunedin Hospital.
While cutting the driver free, the fire-fighter missed seeing the bank and fell down it, the police spokeswoman said.
''They cut the door [of the truck] off and he stepped back with the door and went down the bank."
He was also taken to Dunedin Hospital with back injuries.
The cause of the crash was being investigated.
