Black ice: Driver escapes after van crashes into Halswell River

A tradie had a miraculous escape when his van struck black ice and plunged into a Canterbury river this morning.

The driver lost control heading south on River Rd, near the intersection of Carters Rd, between Lincoln and Tai Tapu.

The van slid into the grass verge, careered about another 40m before tumbling down the bank and into the Halswell River, where it was almost completely submerged.

It stayed upright and the driver escaped. The crash happened about 11.30am on Friday.

And, soon after police arrived another vehicle got into trouble in the ice.

"Watch out, watch out," yelled the police officer to Selwyn Times editor Barry Clarke and another person who was also at the scene soon after the crash.

Said Clarke: "We looked up and a car travelling north was sliding and snaking and coming right towards us. It wasn't going that fast, but it was too fast for black ice.

"We stayed where we were waiting till the last moment to see where the car would end up before making a call which way to get out of the way if we needed to.

"The driver was holding onto the steering wheel for dear life and trying to straighten the vehicle, which was out of control. It weaved over both lanes, got fairly close to us, did one or two three sixties and then came to a stop.

"She did a pretty good job but whether it was luck or good management that she didn't slam into us, who knows. She was clearly shaken."

Clarke said the stretch of road where the van went into the river was heavily shaded, even though it was late morning.

Police are urging motorists to take extreme care because of the black ice.