Mother dies as car rolls off road

Waimauku locals say yesterday's crash is not the first time motorists have come to grief on the bend. Photo / Dean Purcell

A young mother is dead and her 2-year-old son was last night in a critical condition after the car they were in swerved on a sharp bend and rolled into a ditch in Waimauku, northwest of Auckland.

Nearby residents desperately tried to open the jammed doors to free the toddler, who was crying for his mother.

The 23-year-old woman's vehicle ended up on the other side of Taylor Rd shortly after 5pm yesterday.

Doug Williams, who lives close to the scene, said he heard "a very sudden mechanical sound".

"It was a big crunch. My wife said, 'The power wires are wobbling. Something's hit the line.' So I put my coat on and rushed out there.

"It was pouring with rain ... The car was upside down, facing the other way it came. There was a baby in the back seat. He was upside down, he was calling out for his mother."

Motorists from passing cars and neighbours also went to help while waiting for emergency services.

"We couldn't get the door open, it was really jammed.

"[A neighbour] was able to crawl in where the window would have been with a torch and talk to the baby and try and calm him down a bit.

"What can you do with a car upside down? He was really upset."

The neighbour took the mother's pulse and she appeared to be still alive at that time, Mr Williams said.

"We got a blanket from motorists and covered her up."

It is understood the pair were cut from the vehicle by the Fire Service.

Inspector Turepu Keenan, of the police northern communications centre, said the woman died at the scene.

The Westpac helicopter airlifted the toddler to the Starship hospital.

Helicopter paramedic Russell Clarke said that when he arrived, St John ambulance paramedics had already stabilised the little boy.

"He was well restrained in his car seat, so that definitely saved him from getting worse injuries."

Police blocked off the area between Taylor and Waikoukou Valley Rds and Taylor and Old North Rds, and detours were put in place as officers carried out an examination of the scene.

A police tent was put up over the wrecked car and the serious crash unit began its investigations.

Mr Williams said it was not the first time cars had crashed on the bend.

"It's a very dangerous corner, a very sharp corner."