Surf shop staff were miraculously uninjured after a 67-year-old Whangamata man smashed through the side of their building just centimetres from the counter where they usually stand.
Eye witness Noeline Morgan said she watched the man reverse out of his carpark space on Aicken Rd outside D-Bar surf shop and back straight into a stationary vehicle that was parked on the opposite side of the road.
We could have been killed if we were standing behind that counter. He should never drive again.
He then accelerated into the side of the surf shop with such force that it twisted the window framing, sent glass flying and demolished bricks on the exterior, she said.
"There was a huge bang - it happened so quickly - and I saw the [stationary] blue car up on the curb and then the driver went back over the road again with smoke coming out of everywhere," she said.
There were three staff working at D-Bar at the time of the incident but none were behind the counter. They described hearing an almighty noise as the car slammed into the building and then the shop filled with smoke as the driver kept his foot on the accelerator.
D-Bar owner Wayne Chatham was visibly shaken and told the Coastal News he hoped the driver would not be allowed to drive again.
"We could have been killed if we were standing behind that counter. He should never drive again."
Sergeant Russell Richards said a 67-year-old male driver was taken to Whangamata Medical Centre for an assessment and was unhurt. An investigation would follow.