It was a case of everyone being asleep in the car - including the driver.
A family of four had a narrow escape after they found themselves poised on the edge of a 3-metre culvert after their rental car veered off the road on their way back from Castlepoint on Monday around 6pm.
Masterton police Constable Dana Johanson said the driver, a man in his 60s, had fallen asleep while driving on the Masterton-Castlepoint Rd, near the Blairlogie intersection. The rental car had ended up on a 45-degree angle, with a dry earth culvert about two metres below.
Ms Johansen said she was amazed the car had not simply rolled into the culvert, but remarked the family, four tourists from Malaysia, had been to church that day - and said their prayers. "Everyone had fallen asleep," she said. "He was very lucky he didn't end up in the watercourse."
Masterton fire service and Wellington Free Ambulance attended the scene, treating the wife for seatbelt bruising and whiplash, and the driver for back pain.
