Ambulance damaged in head-on road crash

The damage to the Toyota driven by an unlicensed 18-year-old, which left him in hospital.

A $200,000 ambulance is off the road after a head-on collision with an unlicensed teenage driver on State Highway 12, north of Kaikohe.

The 18-year-old from Opononi was flown by helicopter to Whangarei Hospital in a serious condition with injuries to his face and shoulder, after colliding with an ambulance near Taheke about 5am yesterday. He was in a stable condition in hospital last night.

A female paramedic was driving the empty ambulance towards Kaikohe on a non-urgent job and received minor injuries in the crash. She managed to help volunteer firefighters from Kaikohe free the teenage driver.

An unlicensed driver collided with an emergency vehicle.

Police said it appeared the teen was not wearing a seatbelt.

He could face charges.

Kaikohe volunteer deputy chief fire officer Wiremu Matene said the Toyota had flipped on to its roof after coming around a right-hand bend, and had ended up off the road. The collision happened on State Highway 12 between Mangatoa Rd and Te Irenga West Rd.

A St John spokesman said the paramedic involved in the collision filed an incident report and an internal investigation was under way.

She was receiving support from St John and a local St John manager had attended the crash scene at the time.

A St John spokesman said an ambulance from Auckland would be driven to Northland to fill the gap with the damaged vehicle being off the road, ensuring there would be no disruption to service in the Mid North.

An ambulance is valued at $150,000, with the equipment inside worth another $50,000. It was not yet determined whether the ambulance would be written off but it was extensively damaged.

Sergeant Dylan Robinson of Kaikohe police spoke with the 18-year-old yesterday, who was not previously known to police.

Mr Robinson said indications were that fatigue was the main factor in the collision and that the driver was not wearing a seatbelt. He understood the Toyota would be written off.

He said the 18-year-old faced charges of careless driving and of driving without a licence.

The crash comes after a staggering 10 deaths in separate incidents on New Zealand roads over the weekend.