Two people escaped serious injury after a van flipped sideways into a ditch off State Highway 10 at Awanui yesterday morning.
Two vans were travelling towards Awanui between Church Rd at Kareponia and Godinovich Rd at Awanui at 9.15am when the crash happened.
Long-serving Kaitaia Fire Brigade volunteer, Colin Kitchen, said the crash appeared to be a high-impact, nose-to-tail collision.
He said the driver of the first van had apparently slowed down for someone walking their dogs close to the road.
The driver of the second van allegedly failed to see the van slow down, hitting it from behind and flipping it sideways to the left of the road and into a ditch.
An ambulance treated the first driver for shock. Neither driver had to go to hospital.
Traffic was stopped on both sides of the road to allow emergency services to help the drivers out of their cars and to clean up debris on the road.
