Firefighters had to lift a car off a man who was thrown halfway out of the driver's window and trapped under the vehicle when it crashed east of Kawakawa.
The single-vehicle accident occurred on Waikare Rd, Karetu, about 1.20am yesterday.
Kawakawa fire chief Wayne Martin said the car had gone up a bank, rolled back onto the road, coming to rest on its side. The driver and sole occupant had been thrown partly out of the side window and was trapped under the car. The car's weight was not resting on him but he was unable to free himself.
Volunteer firefighters used hydraulic lifting equipment to raise the car so the man, who was believed to live in the Waikare area, could be extricated. He was taken initially to Bay of Islands Hospital by St John Ambulance with suspected neck and spinal injuries. His injuries were not thought to be life threatening.
Police also attended the crash. The Kawakawa brigade was called to another single-vehicle crash the previous evening, about 6.30pm, on Hupara Rd near Pakaraka. In that case the car had ended up in a ditch but no one was injured.
