Tourists in dramatic crash

The occupants of this car were injured after it collided with a truck and spun into a 100m trail of destruction. Photo / John Stone

Two tourists will have a nightmare of a holiday story to tell after their car was involved in a spectacular crash, first bouncing off a logging truck then a rock wall in Whangarei.

The man and woman, thought to have been visitors from overseas, were pulled through their rental car's passenger side window by passers-by concerned by the smell of hot fuel.

Seconds earlier, the passers-by tipped the badly damaged car on to its side after it had careered out of control down Western Hills Dr, took out two street light poles, spun around and slammed into the rock wall between Kensington Ave and Kohatu St before rolling and landing on its roof.

Both occupants were taken to Whangarei Hospital after the crash at about 2.25pm yesterday although it is understood they were not suffering serious injuries.

The chain of destruction began when the car allegedly pulled out in front of the southbound Stokes Cartage truck on Western Hills Dr, hitting the truck's front right.

A neighbour said she heard a loud bang, a screech of truck brakes and tyres, then a few seconds later "an almighty crash" as the car that had travelled about 100 metres downhill after the collision, slammed into a stone wall.

The woman said she knew it was a bad collision and was dialling 111 as she ran outside to see what had happened.

Acting police Sergeant Mike Greenwood said it appeared the car pulled out in front of the truck without warning, and the driver lost control. Debris was scattered across the four lanes of the road.

Northbound traffic was detoured along Kensington Ave and traffic heading the other way sent along Manse St; a long line of northbound trucks that couldn't turn waited until the all-clear was given after concerns about fuel spilt on the road.

It was the second crash involving a logging truck in three days, after a fully-laden logging truck rolled on State Highway 1 south of Whangarei on Monday morning. It lost control near the Springfield Rd intersection, tipped over, veered into the opposite lane and lost the load of logs.

Both the truck and logs narrowly missed an oncoming car. The driver managed to crawl from the vehicle and was taken to Whangarei Hospital with moderate injuries. A mechanical fault is thought to be the cause of that accident.