A north Otago mother and daughter were lucky to escape serious injury after the ute they were in skidded 100m and rolled "several times'' near Weston yesterday afternoon.
Constable Carl Pedersen, of Oamaru, said the 21-year-old daughter, who was driving northwest on Burnside Rd, saw ice ahead and slowed to about 50kmh or 60kmh before "the back end has gone on her''.
"When she hit [the ice] it's just gone on her. She's lost control,'' he said.
"At the end of the day there's only a damaged vehicle. A vehicle's replaceable; people aren't.''
Waitaki district councillor Bill Kingan, who lives in nearby Enfield, was the first to arrive on the scene. He said he slowed because cows in a farmer's paddock had congregated at the fence where the vehicle had come to rest.
The daughter had kicked the windscreen out of the vehicle when he arrived. She was able to get out, but her mother was caught up in her seatbelt, trapped inside the vehicle.
He was passed a cellphone - the daughter had already called 111 - and he directed emergency services to the location.
The Weston Volunteer Fire Brigade arrived shortly thereafter, he said.
Chief Fire Officer Bevan Koppert said both occupants were out of the car when the fire brigade arrived, but crews worked to secure the vehicle.
St John took the mother, whose age was unknown, to Oamaru Hospital as a precautionary measure.
