Rare car damaged in ‘horrible’ crash after teen driving too fast

A Dunedin woman says her family was abused by a teenage driver after he crashed into their rare American performance car while travelling almost double the speed limit.

Senior Sergeant Anthony Bond, of Dunedin, said police responded to a crash in Cumberland St at 4pm on Sunday after a 17-year-old driving at high speed hit a 2020 Dodge Charger, which was making a right turn to the other side of the road.

The driver admitted to police he was driving between 90km/h and 110km/h — the Cumberland St speed limit is 60km/h.

An emergency services officer attends a crash in Cumberland St, in Dunedin. Photo / Peter McIntosh

A Hato Hone St John spokesman said ambulance officers treated and transported two patients to Dunedin Hospital, one in a moderate condition and one in a minor condition.

The wife of the man driving the Dodge said she was standing on the opposite side of the road waiting to be picked up and saw the crash.

She watched the crash and thought of her 7-month-old grandchild, her two children and her husband in the car.

“It was horrible.”

A rare imported Dodge Charger was badly damaged after it was hit by another car. Photo / Peter McIntosh

The woman said the car driven by the 17-year-old “was going like the clappers”.

“We don’t even know where that car came from,” she said.

After the collision, the youth got out of his car and started verbally abusing the family.

“My daughter got out of the car and they thought she was driving.

“They got in her face and shouted at her and said ‘why were you stopped in the middle of the road?’

“My family weren’t stopped in the middle of the road.

“They [the teen] were just going so fast it probably looked like they were.”

The family now faced trying to get their badly damaged car repaired.

“It’s the only [car] like it in the South Island.

“It’s irreplaceable. You can’t get another one like it, not in New Zealand,” she said.

Bond said the 17-year-old was referred to Youth Aid and investigations were ongoing.