Car smash victim: 'I can't believe I'm still alive'

Andrea Sullivan says it was like being in a washing machine when her car (pictured) was 'completely munted' in a smash with a fleeing teenager. Photo / Sarah Ivey

A woman whose car was smashed into by a fleeing teenager driving at up to 180km/h says she is "incredibly lucky" to be alive and if her children had been in her car they would be dead.

Speaking from her Middlemore Hospital bed yesterday, Andrea Sullivan told the Herald how the 19-year-old driver of a stolen car crashed into her at an intersection.

The teenager, who was being chased by police before the crash, was killed.

"He came flying out of nowhere and slammed into me. I cannot believe I'm still alive," Ms Sullivan said.

"When he hit me I spun around and around ... it was like being in a washing machine."

The 39-year-old was returning from her job as a homecare worker, and was only 1.5km from her home.

The crash left her with broken ribs, a cracked sternum and heavy bruising.

"He came flying down [the road] and t-boned the left side of the car. I didn't see him coming ... I've been told he was doing around 180km/h."

Police said they began chasing the teenager because the Nissan he was driving had been reported stolen from Auckland city earlier in the day.

But they say officers pulled out of the pursuit 30 seconds before the crash.

On any other day, Ms Sullivan said, she would have had her four children - aged 13, 10, 5 and 3 - in her Ford Falcon car with her, but her partner, Glen Cathcart, had taken the week off work and was looking after them.

"If they'd been in the car with me, I'm not sure they would have made it."

Ms Sullivan said she was travelling slowly as she was wary of the intersection of Waiuku and Patumahoe roads, near Pukekohe.

"I always slow down there because it's a blind corner and there's been tons of crashes, so I'm really careful. I was so lucky that I had slowed down, because I don't think I'd still be alive if I hadn't."

She said she was not angry.

"I'm not mad, no. I'm just sad that a 19-year-old has lost his life."

Ms Sullivan said her car was "completely munted".

She said it would take her months to recover from her injuries and she probably would not be able to participate in the marathon she planned to run in next month. She expected to be released from hospital today.

Police said yesterday they found a passport in the dead man's pocket which they thought belonged to the driver, so went to the passport holder's address to break the bad news.

Instead they found the passport holder there, alive and well.

He said his car had been stolen a few days earlier, with his passport in it.

The dead man has since been identified through fingerprints.