A 71-year-old man may have fallen asleep at the wheel of the car he was driving at Clarendon yesterday before it collided with an oncoming car and sent four men to Dunedin Hospital.
Southern deployment co-ordinator Senior Sergeant Craig Brown said a man in a Kia car was driving north on Waihola Highway and collided with a Mazda car travelling south, with four men inside.
The crash occurred near the phosphate works about 5.30am. The man in the Kia was treated at the scene for a minor injury.
The four men in the Mazda suffered minor to moderate injuries and were taken to Dunedin Hospital for assessment.
Police inquiries were continuing, Snr Sgt Brown said.
Milton Volunteer Fire Brigade Chief Fire Officer Alan Tapp said he attended the two-car collision and believed the man travelling north had fallen asleep and his car travelled across the centre line and hit the southbound car.
''It was a glancing blow. They were very, very lucky,'' Mr Tapp said.
About an hour earlier, a car hit a cow in Central Southland.
A Honda Civic car driven by a 31-year-old man was ''reasonably well damaged'' after it hit the cow in Wallacetown Rd, Branxholme about 4.40am yesterday.
The man was uninjured, he said.
Police inquiries were continuing and the farmer was being talked to, he said.
About an hour earlier, a sport utility vehicle rolled in Central Southland.
Snr Sgt Brown said a Nissan Terrano driven by a 18-year-old man rolled about 3.30am yesterday on McFetridge Rd, Drummond.
The driver was taken by ambulance to Southland Hospital with a lacerated arm.
