Serious injury in truck and car head-on crash on outskirts of Gisborne

State Highway 35 on Awapuni Rd near the end of the airport runway was closed for some time yesterday afternoon after a head-on crash between a car and truck. The driver of the car suffered serious injuries. Photo / Murray Robertson

The driver of a car was seriously injured yesterday afternoon when his vehicle collided head-on with a truck on State Highway 35 adjacent to the end of the Gisborne Airport runway.

The Awapuni crash happened around 1pm and the road was closed for a couple of hours.

Firefighters had to remove the roof to get him out of the extensively damaged sedan.

“His legs were trapped under the dashboard,” a senior firefighter said. “We had to cut the roof off the car to extricate him.”

The man, aged in his late 30s, was taken to Gisborne Hospital by St John ambulance with what were described as “serious leg injuries”.

“He was Status 2, serious,” an ambulance officer said.

The man was the sole occupant of the car.

The truck driver escaped injury.

“We checked him over, but he was okay,” the ambulance officer said.

The front of the truck received moderate damage and Gisborne Hiabs was called in to tow it away.

An emergency services spokesman said the truck was heading out of Gisborne on Awapuni Rd/SH35, and the car was heading into the city.

The crash happened just south of the end of the airport runway.

Police and contractors put roadblocks in place at either end of the crash site and diverted traffic while emergency services did their work.