Car smashes into living room

Student Kevin Lewis surveys the remains of his living room after it was demolished by a car. Photo / Otago Daily Times

Two flatmates had an unexpected dinner guest when a woman drove in through the living room window.

University of Otago student Kevin Lewis said he was putting his leftover meal in the fridge about 8pm when the walls of his Duke St flat in Dunedin started shaking.

He looked around to see a 1m television skid to a halt at his feet and the back end of a car embedded in the flat's ground-floor living room.

The car had stopped about 2m from where his flatmate was sitting at the table eating his dinner.

Back at the flat yesterday after a night at a motel, he said it was hard to recall the exact moment on Monday when the car crashed in to the flat.

He understood the 18-year-old woman driver was trying to stop the car suddenly and had mistakenly pressed the accelerator instead of the brake while reversing out of a nearby park. She was shaken, but not injured, he said.

"It just happened so quickly," Mr Lewis said. "None of us freaked out - we were all calm. But I guess we were lucky. If anyone was over here [in the living room] someone would have died."

The driver jumped out of the car leaving it in gear, but a mangled strut appeared to have stopped it from going any further. A bystander jumped in the car and put it out of gear.

Mr Lewis said he and his flatmates had gone to a bar to celebrate "being alive". They would be put up in other accommodation for a week while the flat was repaired.

- OTAGO DAILY TIMES