Seatbelts saved the lives of three teenagers after the car in which they were travelling became airborne and somersaulted from a South Wairarapa road yesterday, police say.
Firefighters, police and ambulance officers attended the scene of the single vehicle crash on Ponatahi Rd, in South Wairarapa, about 1.15pm yesterday, Masterton traffic policing Sergeant Chris Megaw said.
Pieces torn from the Honda sedan were strewn along the roadside for more than 20 metres, to a point where the car came to rest on its side hard against a low roadside bank.
Mr Megaw said three teenage Martinborough boys had been travelling home from Castlepoint Beach, when the 17-year-old driver lost control of the vehicle on a short straight.
"He seems to have hit a roadside culvert, which probably caused the vehicle to not only rotate but somersault off the road."
