Driver left in cliff-hanger after getting confused

The driver of this Mitsubishi Chariot was embarrassed but unhurt after driving through the fence in Tauranga. Photo / APN

Putting the shift lever in drive rather than reverse left a man and his car hanging perilously from the bank of a property on Eleventh Ave in Tauranga this week.

The mistake occurred when the driver, who was intending to reverse, instead accelerated through a fence, leaving the front wheels of his vehicle hanging over the embankment.

The man - the sole occupant of the vehicle - was shaken but uninjured.

He did not wish to comment.

Constable Paul Gunner said Wednesday's accident looked worse than it was and there was no grave danger. It would have been more dangerous had the vehicle been overhanging to the left, over public space and the road below.

As it was, the accident had occurred on private property and the cost of any damage would be borne by its residents.

Richard Chamberlain pulled over to offer assistance by extending a tow-rope to the vehicle and called the driver "lucky but unlucky".

"I came up and I knew he was in the vehicle because the window-wipers were going," he said. "To be honest it probably wouldn't have fallen."

Mr Chamberlain said the driver was clearly embarrassed.

One man on the scene, who did not wish to be named, believed the Mitsubishi Chariot, being a taller vehicle, was wedged in place whereas a sleeker car might have plummeted to the bottom.

A tow truck was called to remove the vehicle.

- APN