Car rolls on dangerous Canterbury road after morning crash

A car upturned on Tram Rd, West Eyreton, following the morning crash. Photo / George Heard

A stretch of road in rural Canterbury that’s seen at least 10 crashes in 13 years has seen another incident on a foggy morning.

Emergency services were called to Tram Rd in West Eyreton, North Canterbury at roughly 7.45am.

A Fire and Emergency unit from Cust arrived at the scene to find a car had rolled off the road and was sitting upturned on a grass bank.

The car had two people inside, Shift Manager Lyn Crosson told the Herald. One person was still trapped when the fire unit arrived.

However, as a Rangiora rescue unit was en route, the trapped person managed to free themselves.

Police confirmed the patients’ conditions - one was in moderate condition and the other only sustained minor injuries.

Although police said in a statement the incident wasn’t blocking the road, Tram Rd was closed to the public by the Cust fire crews.

Emergency workers are now treating the patients in chilly Canterbury, with the temperature currently sitting at 1°C.

Fog is currently blanketing the wider Canterbury region, a witness to the emergency response said, with drivers driving carefully to the conditions.

Tram Rd first made headlines back in March 2021, when a North Canterbury man living on Tram Rd complained about the number of dangerous crashes on the street after a driver was killed.

Emergency services responding to a fatal crash on Tram Rd in 2021. Photo / George Heard

“We’ve had drunks, there have been medical events ... it’s frustrating, to say the least,” said Barry Grieves.

Grieves says he’s seen nine crashes on his property in 12 years.

He took the issue up with the Waimakariri District Council, which led to the Tram Rd shoulder widened and the North Eyre Rd intersection getting a revamp.

But Grieves said it’s only made the situation worse.

“The cars now appear to be going faster around the bend, because it’s so large and well-covered.”

Only a few months later, another driver was killed in a collision after a truck collided with a car on the road’s corner.