A Dargaville couple and their grandson had a lucky escape when their car went into a ditch after being hit by a low-flying hawk on State Highway 14 yesterday.
The two adults suffered minor injuries after a hawk hit the windscreen of the car on SH14 near the intersection of Otuhi
Rd, 20km west of Whangarei, about 9.45am yesterday.
Constable Shane Joyce, from Dargaville Police, said the couple had been driving their grandson, believed to be aged 6-8, to Whangarei at about 100km/h when a hawk flew up off the road in front of them and crashed into the windscreen.
The impact shattered the windscreen of the BMW, causing the male driver to veer off the road, down a 4m bank and into a tree.
Mr Joyce said the trio were lucky to escape serious injury in the accident and he praised the efforts of following motorist who stopped to give aid.
"They did a great job in stopping to help, phoning us and looking after the child and providing comfort to them," he said.
Mr Joyce said people often claim that a hawk had caused an accident, but the smashed windscreen and seriously injured hawk were indisputable proof in this case.
The hawk was in a pretty bad way. We considered calling the [Whangarei] Bird Recovery people but it was in so much pain and suffering enormously so we had to put it down," Mr Joyce said.
