Out-of-control car hits walkers

Photo / Northern Advocate

A driver mounted a footpath, running down an elderly couple - then lifted his station wagon off a victim trapped beneath, witnesses say.

The driver, named by family as Charlie Pulevaka, left a trail of destruction after losing control of his Mazda station wagon on Te Atatu Rd in Auckland's Glendene yesterday afternoon.

He hit a road sign before crashing into a fence, taking out a palm tree and then colliding with a couple on an afternoon stroll.

The woman was flung clear but her husband was dragged about 10m under the car before it came to rest in a driveway.

Ambulance officers treated them for 45 minutes before taking them to Auckland Hospital in a serious condition.

John Heath came outside to find the scene of devastation on his front yard.

"I was just sitting watching TV and I heard a terrible bang. I had a quick look and ran outside and then grabbed the phone to dial 111. He was lying under the car. I didn't want anyone to die on my driveway."

Retiree Ron Robinson, 83, who lives opposite the crash site, said Pulevaka got out of the car and lifted the front wheel so that the elderly man could be moved away.

Robinson said: "He hit the sign post and then went through the fence and took the couple out along the way. "

Ron's wife Lorraine Robinson, 78, said: "It was hard to say whether he was going to make it. There was blood everywhere and he seemed to be bleeding from his ear."

Police were investigating while the couple remained in hospital where their condition was improving.