A young woman whose car crashed "head first" down a 60m bank before flipping managed to crawl out of the vehicle and phone emergency services and family.
Emergency services say the accident may have been caused by sunstrike and the victim may not have been found had she not had a cellphone to call for help.
Otorohanga Volunteer Fire Brigade chief fire officer Neville King said staff were alerted to the incident on a rural road west of Waitomo about 4.30pm yesterday.
"The front of the car as it went over the bank went head first into the ground and did a flip back on to its wheels and then she managed to crawl out of the car and was talking to emergency services on her cellphone and she also rang some relatives to come and get her."
The 21-year-old Hamilton woman, who was alone in the car, was on her way to her family bach in Marokopa, Mr King said.
