Four Tamatea High School students were injured, one seriously, after this crash which left Lee Road in Taradale blocked for nearly two hours yesterday.
While the driver of the early model Nissan Bluebird was able to walk away unscathed, his four passengers were not so lucky as the car was rammed
onto a traffic island after being hit by an oncoming vehicle.
The left side of the car was stoved in, leaving one of the passengers on that side, a 17-year-old boy, with serious abdominal injuries. A second 17-year-old received moderate injuries, mainly cuts and bruising, while a 16-year-old received head and chest injuries.
The damage to the car left the fourth boy trapped and it took firefighters about an hour to free him.
Their work was hampered by the second car which was embedded into the side and balancing precariously on two wheels. Large wooden blocks were used to stabilise the leaning car until it could be secured with ropes and carefully pulled away from the boys' car.
The crash happened at the intersection of Lee Road and Gloucester Street about 12.40pm.
Police said the young driver, badly shaken by what had happened, had fully co-operated with them and said he had been distracted while turning from Lee Road into Gloucester Street.
The second car containing four women and a toddler had no chance of avoiding the turning car.
Two of the women were also taken to Hawke's Bay Hospital with minor neck injuries.
Lee Road was cordoned off at both ends for about two hours while the scene was cleared.
The boy who received head injuries was to undergo a CT scan today while the conditions of the other injured were described as satisfactory.
Police are seeking witnesses to the crash.
