Two drivers involved in a dramatic smash in central Whangarei escaped unharmed.
A 4WD drive was on fire, its wheel had been ripped off and a second car was badly smashed following the crash on Hatea Drive yesterday just after 1.30pm.
Fire, ambulance and police swarmed the scene, putting out the blaze and directing traffic away. A police spokeswoman said the elderly male driver of the northbound 4WD suffered a "medical event" which caused him to cross the centre line and collide with an oncoming car.
The man was treated at the scene and was taken to hospital "as a precaution", the spokeswoman said. The female driver of the second vehicle was unhurt and was helping police after the crash.
Dozens of passersby - many of them school-aged children - stopped to take photos of the scene.
