Teen flung in air by speedster

Ashleigh was hit on Bucklands Beach Rd. Photo / Supplied

A teenage hit-and-run victim was thrown into the air "like a rag doll" when she was mown down by a speeding disqualified driver after being asked to leave a noisy party.

Ashleigh Scott, 18, suffered serious head injuries when she was hit in front of three horrified friends outside a birthday party in Bucklands Beach, East Auckland at 11.20pm on Friday.

An 18-year-old man fled before handing himself into police early yesterday morning. He is likely to be charged with dangerous driving causing injury.

Witnesses said the driver reached speeds of up to 100km/h in a 50km/h zone.

Ashleigh's distraught father Mike Scott, who works for Pike River Coal, said he had endured a year from hell after last November's mining disaster.

Yesterday a large pool of blood marked the spot where Ashleigh was hit on Bucklands Beach Rd.

Her best friend Alesha Ellis saw her lying on the road and called out her name trying to wake her up: "Everyone was on their cellphones ringing 111."

Ellis said the driver "just kept going, didn't even slow down or anything, just kept speeding".

Ashleigh's mother Michelle added: "[Her friends] said she went up in the air like a rag doll."

The group had been at the home of Brandon Thom, who was hosting a 20th birthday party for friend Tony Laloli.

Thom's father Stephen asked the revellers, including Ashleigh, to leave when the party got too loud.

The 44-year-old forklift operator said the sickening impact sounded like "two cars hitting each other".

He rushed out to see what had happened and saw Ashleigh lying on the road.

"They heard this guy really winding it up going up the hill. It's got to be 100km/h plus.

Ashleigh was unconscious for about five minutes then she came to and started crying, he said.

"She landed on her head. I think that's what caused the blood. She was in and out of consciousness but moaning."

A nurse who lived opposite kept Ashleigh's airway clear until the ambulance arrived.

Ashleigh's parents, brother Kristian, 20, and sister Jasmine, 14, spent most of the day at Auckland City Hospital, where she was in a critical but stable condition.

Her father said she had undergone a CAT scan to her brain which had been inconclusive.

"She is going to have surgery, not major surgery."

Manukau police senior sergeant Kai Shao said a member of the public gave a registration number and description of the car. Police spoke to the registered owner at an address in East Auckland.

They interviewed her 18-year-old daughter, who was a passenger in the vehicle.

At 10am yesterday an 18-year-old man turned up at Manukau police station with his father saying he was the driver and the female was his girlfriend and front seat passenger.

Retired resident Stan Beale said there had been a crash on the road that same day.

"I'm not surprised that something happened here. This corner urgently needs attention. It was an accident waiting to happen."

He said he told the council to do something about the road a couple years ago but no action was taken.

Her father said she had a lot of friends. "She wouldn't hurt a fly. She's very intelligent and very independent. She's a typical teenager."

He said Ashleigh wanted to be a veterinary nurse and loved animals "tremendously".

The electrical engineer for Pike River Coal knew all 29 men who died in the explosion in November.

"I still work at Pike River. I have been retained by the receiver to help with the recovery and the rehabilitation of the mine if it comes to that," he said.

- Additional reporting: Andre Hueber