Smashing end to son’s bedtime story

DAMAGING CRASH: A four by four vehicle left Rutene Road last night, demolished a street light pole and smashed into fences of roadside properties before coming to rest against a house. The man driving it was taken to hospital. Pictures by Ben Cowper

Fences were smashed to bits, a street light pole was flattened and a house damaged in a spectacular car crash in Rutene Road last night.

The crash happened at around 8pm, 40 to 50 metres east of the William Pettie Bridge.

A nearby resident, who was reading a bedtime story to his son at the time, heard a loud smash and went to investigate.

“The vehicle had hit a street light pole,” he told The Herald. “It then went on to hit fences in front of three properties before it hit the corner of a two-storey house on the corner of Rutene Road and the Esplanade.”

Police and St John ambulance attended. “The male driver was taken to hospital but was not seriously injured,” police said.

“We are completing inquiries to establish the facts, but early indications are that this may be the result of a medical event.”

■ Three people were treated for minor to moderate injuries last night after the vehicle they were in rolled on a bend on Wharekopae Road at Ngatapa. It happened at around 6.15pm.

The car came to rest on its roof.

Once the injured had been attended to and taken to Gisborne Hospital, firefighters removed the vehicle from the roadway to allow traffic to get past.