Christchurch driver rolls car 50 metres down bank and crawls to safety

Car rolled 100m down bank in Little River. Photo / George Heard.

A man who rolled his car 50 metres down a steep bank crawled back up the bank and escaped the wreckage, police have confirmed.

The driver was seriously injured after leaving the road and driving down a steep bank in the rural district of Little River.

Two Fire and Emergency NZ crews from Little River and Akaroa attended the car crash on Christchurch Akaroa Rd, near the Hill Top Cafe.

The scene where a vehicle rolled 100m down a bank on the Christchurch Akaroa Road. Photo / George Heard

Police confirmed the car drove down the bank just after 9pm on Sunday night.

Senior Constable Anita Osborne said the driver was seen standing on the side of the road and was found by people driving past.

“[He] was obviously in pain and said he’d crawled his way out from the vehicle,” she said.

It’s unclear at this stage how the crash occurred, Osborne said the car was already cold when police found it.

“We don’t know when or how [the crash happened], he was in a serious condition with a collapsed lung.”

Police are at the scene of the crash once again on Monday morning to examine the scene, Osborne said the Serious Crash Unit was investigating the matter along with a photographer.

“We got an update from the hospital to say [the man is] doing better today”.