The engine and gearbox were ripped out of this vehicle as a result of a head-on collision and flung 40m on the southern side of the Brynderwyn hills. Photo / John Stone
The engine and gearbox were ripped out of this vehicle as a result of a head-on collision and flung 40m on the southern side of the Brynderwyn hills. Photo / John Stone
An engine and gearbox from a car involved in a head-on collision were flung 40m up over a bank and fence into a paddock off Northland's State Highway 1.
The crash was one of at least six across Northland yesterday which had police urging motorists to slow down in the wet weather conditions.
Emergency services were called to SH1 on the southern side of the Brynderwyn hills 200m south of the intersection with SH12 at about 9.15am.
A trail of plastic car parts and oil littered the trajectory path from the point of impact to where the engine and gearbox landed.
Initial investigations revealed a southbound car collided with a northbound vehicle on a right-hand bend.
Northland police highway patrol Sergeant Lance Goulsbro said that was enough to spin the southbound Nissan Skyline which collided head-on with another northbound vehicle, a four-wheel-drive Subaru. The impact was enough to rip the motor from the Skyline and catapult it 40m away.
A temporary road closure saw traffic back up on the northern side of the crash scene.
A trail of car parts and oil littered the trajectory path. The female driver of the Skyline, and sole occupant, was taken by ambulance to hospital with moderate injuries.
A female from the Subaru was flown by the Northland Electricity rescue helicopter to Whangarei. The road was closed for about 15 minutes while the helicopter landed on the route and the patient was loaded.
A northbound car failed to take the corner and smashed into a bank on the other side of the road, leaving the car on its side and facing south, on the same corner on the southern side of the Brynderwyn hills. Photo / Supplied
The road was down to one lane as emergency services worked to clear the scene and it did not take long for a queue to form on the northern side of the scene. It cleared quickly once the road reopened. Investigations continue and police said charges were likely.
Officers at the scene said speed and the wet conditions were factors in the crash.
Only a few hours earlier police were called to a single-vehicle crash on the same corner.
A northbound car failed to take the corner and smashed into a bank on the other side of the road, leaving the car on its side and facing south, about 6am. A male and female and two children, aged under 3, were uninjured in the crash. The children were strapped in seats and all four were able to climb free of the car.
There were also crashes on State Highway 14 near Dargaville and another in the town. Police went to another at Bulls Gorge, south of Kerikeri.
Motorists travelling on State Highway 14 towards Dargaville reported parts of the road were slippery because of the weather conditions.
Northland road policing manager Inspector Wayne Ewers said motorists needed to slow down and not follow too closely.
"The posted speed limit is not a target and it takes a lot longer to stop if you have to put the brakes on when driving on a wet road."
