Car becomes airborne at crossing

Police were yesterday searching for the driver of a car that became airborne over a Masterton level crossing and rolled, landing on its roof.

It was the fourth road crash yesterday in a disappointing start to the holiday weekend.

Masterton Police sergeant Chris Megaw said the Hyundai sedan had been travelling west at "considerable speed" about 5.30pm when it crossed the raised Akura Rd level crossing and launched into the air.

The car tore down several metres of fencing before coming to rest on its roof in an open yard bordering the railway tracks.

Empty, and unopened, cans and bottles of beer were strewn through the vehicle and around the crash site.

Paramedics treated two male passengers for cuts and bruises.

A witness, who declined to be named, said the car "flew like a rocket through the air".

"They must have got about a half metre off the ground at least. It was spectacular," he said.

"One of them got out straightaway and the other two took awhile. They crawled out and were all cut and bleeding."

Mr Megaw said police had spoken to the car's owner, who was not in the vehicle, and making enquiries to find the driver, who left the scene.

The crash came after a 35-year-old Masterton woman with a three-month old baby in the back seat rolled on the Rimutaka Hill Rd yesterday morning. Upper Hutt police senior sergeant Brent Murray said the baby was not injured, but the woman received medical attention at Hutt Hospital for minor cuts. Mr Murray said the incident happened about 3km south of the summit.

In a separate incident, there were two minor car crashes on State Highway 2 in Solway near the pedestrian crossing on Friday afternoon within about five minutes of each other.

Traffic Constable Raewyn Joblin said in both incidents a car ran into the back of another vehicle stopped at the crossing.

One of the drivers, with a sore neck and back, was taken to Wairarapa Hospital as a precautionary measure.