Six injured in head-on smash

SUDDEN STOP: One of the vehicles involved in Thursday afternoon's head-on crash in Kaitaia, which left six people injured, one seriously.

Six people, one of them an 8-year-old boy who according to police had been travelling unrestrained (and could well lose his front teeth), were injured in a head-on crash on Matthews Avenue, Kaitaia, on Thursday afternoon.

The accident occurred about 3.45pm, a police spokesman saying the driver of a people-mover appeared to have lost control on a bend, going on to the shoulder on the wrong side of the road and colliding with a car travelling in the opposite direction.

The vehicles ended up about 200 metres apart, one up on the verge, the other blocking one lane. Both sustained extensive frontal damage.

An elderly couple were in the Nissan Pulsar sedan, while four people, including the boy, were in the Toyota Estima people-mover.

The driver of the sedan was taken to Kaitaia Hospital with chest pain, cuts and bruises, his wife suffering only minor bruising. The driver of the other vehicle was also taken to Kaitaia Hospital, along with his partner and son.

A police spokeswoman said early indications were that the people-mover was on the wrong side of the road when the crash occurred.

Police were investigating whether alcohol was a factor, and blood had been taken from the driver for alcohol analysis. He subsequently left the hospital before a leg wound could be stitched, however.

Two crews from the Kaitaia Fire Brigade, whose station is just around the corner from the crash site, responded, assisting with traffic control and cleaning up spilled oil and radiator fluid.