UPDATED 10.00am: Two young children riding on a car bonnet flew up to 4 metres through the air after the vehicle slammed into a park bench, police say.
Police and road safety campaigners are appalled at the driver's alleged actions and say the boy and girl were "extremely lucky notto be seriously injured, or worse".
Western Bay of Plenty road policing manager Senior Sergeant Ian Campion said police were called to Tauranga's Kulim Park about 3.10pm on Saturday, after reports a car had crashed into a park bench and two children were thrown from the bonnet. Witnesses told police the woman driver drove her car into Kulim Park, stopped on entering and the two children jumped out.
Mr Campion said a girl police believed to be aged about 8 climbed on to the bonnet and helped up a younger boy, about 5 years old.
The woman reportedly drove the car across the park going about 30km/h but crashed into an unoccupied park bench, catapulting the two children 3-4m from the bonnet. Mr Campion said the children, although distressed, were not injured. "Personally I'm appalled at that kind of behaviour," he said. "It's a recipe for disaster. The children were extremely lucky not to be seriously injured, or worse."
A Kulim Park regular and her partner were walking dogs in the park at the time and said the woman, two men and three children were sitting at the water's edge before the incident. "They all seemed quite happy when we first got there. The kids were just playing."
She said she saw the woman walk to her car before they heard a "big crash" and her partner saw a child "flying through the air".
"One little boy was crying. I think they were more shocked than anything. One of the men hugged one of the kids," she said.
The witness said that, after failed attempts to start the car, the group walked out of the park while the driver yelled at the witness' daughter, who had just arrived. An ex-police officer called in the incident to police, who arrived shortly after.
Brake Road Safety Charity director Caroline Perry said the driver's alleged behaviour was "totally irresponsible". The children could have been seriously injured, she said.
