Fleeing driver risked electrical jolt

A West Coast man who had been drinking picked his way through a maze of live power lines as he tried to flee the scene of a crash.

Douglas John Row, 39, pleaded guilty in the Greymouth District Court yesterday to driving with excess blood alcohol.

Row failed to take a bend on a road south of Hokitika about 1.30am on January 8. He crashed into a power pole, bringing down live wires.

Row will be sentenced on March 1.

- NZPA