A 16-year-old Tauranga teenager is today fighting for his life with a traumatic brain injury after the car in which he was a passenger ploughed into a power pole in the city at the weekend.
The crash happened on Tuthill St opposite Dunrobbin Pl in Greerton on Saturday about 9.50am and was one of several weekend road injury incidents.
Others included a woman and her daughter who were injured when their car flipped on Pyes Pa Rd, a man injured in a crash at Te Puna, and a man who was run over in Mount Maunganui last night.
Saturday's Greerton accident caused a power cut to about 30 nearby households and power was not restored until about 12.30pm, Powerco said.
Sergeant Lester Polglase said the 18-year-old Tauranga driver of the 1993 Subaru WRX appeared to have lost control in wet conditions.
The driver was taken to Tauranga Hospital with minor injuries but his front-seat passenger suffered a major brain injury and was initially admitted to Tauranga Hospital intensive care unit after firefighters helped free him from the wreck.
The teenager's condition was described as "critically unwell" and he was flown by Westpac Waikato Air Ambulance to Waikato Hospital's intensive care unit yesterday and remained in critical condition.
Greerton senior firefighter Michael Williams said it appeared the driver lost control and the car smashed into the power pole on the driver side door. The the vehicle then swung around before coming to a rest the footpath.
One lane was blocked off to traffic for safety, he said.
One Tuthill St resident, who did not wish to be named, said he was working in his garage when he heard "one hell of a bang", then heard lots of yelling and a ran out to find a crowd had formed at the crash scene down the street.
It was clear the teenager in the car was in a bad way.
Less than an hour later, about 10.50am, a car rolled at the intersection of Pyes Pa Rd and Taumata Rd, Omanawa, after the driver lost control.
A 28-year-old Rotorua mother and her 9-year-old daughter were taken to Tauranga Hospital with minor injuries after the car ended up on its roof. Both victims were believed to be suffering abdominal pains.
Traffic was initially stopped from travelling near the crash scene for quite a while and then the road was reduced to one lane for about a half an hour.
Another vehicle was turned on to its roof after it rolled at the corner SH2 and Te Puna Rd in Te Puna just after 5.20am on Sunday.
The driver, a 22-year-old man, had to be cut from the vehicle by firefighters and was taken to Tauranga Hospital with serious but stable chest injuries, Tauranga St John team manager Ross Clark said.
And last night, a Mount Maunganui man walking home from Bayfair was taken to Tauranga Hospital after he was knocked down by a car travelling along Maunganui Rd.
The 62-year-old man suffered moderate to serious head injuries, a St John ambulance spokesman said.
The man was crossing the road halfway between Exeter St and Girven Rd about 8.30pm when he was hit. He had been making his way home, the ambulance spokesman said.
Acting Senior Sergeant Mark Holmes said police were investigating the incident and the 19-year-old female driver involved was helping police with their inquiries.
Crash teen fights for life
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