The driver of a car which slammed into a parked van on Napier's Shakespeare Rd early yesterday and which left three other vehicles damaged did not appear to have tried to slow down before the impact a nearby neighbour said.
"There was no screeching and no braking," resident Craig Morley said.
"It was around 6.20am and I was semi-awake and heard this car thrashing up the road - the engine was really going."
The next thing he heard was the sound of an impact.
The out-of-control silver Holden car had struck the right rear of the van before sliding up and striking a second parked vehicle, which in turn shunted into the back of another car. That car also dented the back of a fourth car in a concertina effect.