A woman has been injured and a dog has died after two separate crashes tonight.
Motorists travelling on the Napier-Taupo Rd last night were delayed for about 15 minutes after a van swerved to miss a dog and ended up down a ditch.
Senior sergeant Karl Bauerfeind said the crash happened on the stretch of State Highway 5 in Te Pohue about 6.30pm.
It appeared one car tried to swerve to miss the dog but could not and fatally struck it.
A van then ended up a considerable distance down a bank when it tried swerved to miss the first car.
The fire service, ambulance and police attended the scene. The people in both cars were uninjured.
Traffic was stopped while the mess was cleaned up. Mr Bauerfeind could not confirm whether the van had been retrieved yet as it was in an awkward position.
About two hours later just after 8pm, emergency services were called to the scene of another crash in Hastings where a car had smashed through the fence just missing the house.
A woman was found seriously injured in the car which had come to a stop on the property of the house, on the corner of Bledisloe St and Bledisloe Plce in Raureka.
Mr Bauerfeind said the other three occupants of the car had fled the scene leaving the woman alone in the car.
Police received three different calls from people in the area.
Police, a fire engine and an ambulance attended.
Mr Bauerfeind said it was not known where the three people had fled to and he could not give any details as to who they might be.
The woman was taken the emergency department at Hawke's Bay Hospital.