Whangārei man in serious condition after crash into stone wall

The 58-year-old was the sole occupant and had to be cut free by firefighters. Photo / Tania Whyte

The driver of a vehicle that crashed off the road then slammed into a concrete pole and a stone wall has been flown to hospital in serious condition.

The 58-year-old was the sole occupant and had to be cut free by firefighters from the vehicle that ended up in the driveway off a rural property on Tauraroa Rd today.The vehicle was reported to have been driven erratically before the crash just before 2pm.

Serious crash investigator Senior Constable Warren Bunn said the Northland Rescue Helicopter flew the Whangārei man to Auckland Hospital in a serious condition. The road conditions at the time were dry and there were no other vehicles around at the time.

The 58-year-old was the sole occupant and had to be cut free by firefighters. Photo / Tania Whyte

He said the Rav4 vehicle would be seized as part of the investigation.

In levels 3 and 4 there have been four fatal crashes in Northland.

Last Sunday night, during level 2, the passenger in a car which crashed after crossing on to the wrong side of Paihia's main road was critically injured when he was thrown through the windscreen.

The single-vehicle smash occurred at the intersection of Marsden Rd and Williams Rd when the northbound station wagon mounted the footpath and hit two hefty wooden bollards on the right-hand side of the road.

The bollards were snapped in two and the vehicle's right-hand front wheel and suspension were ripped off by the impact.

The vehicle, a Mitsubishi Airtrek, then hit a traffic light pole and came to rest on the pedestrian crossing opposite Paihia wharf. The man remained in hospital in a stable condition.