Alleged drunk driver gets car stuck on median barriers on Waitara Bridge, New Plymouth

An alleged drunk driver got his car stuck on a median barrier on Waitara Bridge, north of New Plymouth, leaving onlookers bemused.

In a video shared on Facebook, a white, four-wheel-drive vehicle with its right side wheels in the air is caught on the road’s median barrier.

The driver attempts to shift the car from the barrier several times with one of its front wheels spinning in the air.

The person videoing the car says: “I don’t think it’s coming off there, buddy.”

Bell Block resident Chris Cooper told the Herald he was heading home from a friend’s house at 2am when he came upon the stuck car.

“He had just done it. There was a truck and a woman stopped there already and I came up behind him and that was the view I saw.

“I don’t know how he got up there but he must have gone up the ramp at the start of the median barrier,” he said.

“It was holding him up.”

Cooper thought the driver was trying to get off the ramp after they started the car.

A suspected drink-driver got his car stuck on a median barrier on Waitara Bridge, north of New Plymouth, leaving onlookers bemused.

“He didn’t even know he was up there. He was in a daze,” Cooper said.

“It was an odd sight in the middle of the road at 2am. We were just glad no one was hurt.”

Cooper said the three people who were there were worried the driver would cause more damage or hurt himself.

“The guy could have jumped out and run away if he had any clear head about him,” he said.

“I thought it might have come off there. When he first did it, I stood back because I didn’t know what he was going to do.”

Cooper said once the police arrived, officers took two men out of the car.

Police said officers were called about 2.10am on Saturday, with reports of a vehicle going on to the median barrier on State Highway 3 between Mamaku Rd and Main North Rd.

“No injuries were reported and a 28-year-old man has been summoned to appear in New Plymouth District Court on July 23, charged with excess breath alcohol.”

David Williams is an Auckland-based Multimedia Journalist who joined the Herald in 2023. He covers breaking news and general topics.