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Home / New Zealand

Watch: Terrifying airborne crash in Hamilton, witness saves passenger: ‘He was basically dying’

Heath Moore
By Heath Moore
NZ Herald·
7 May, 2024 05:00 PM4 mins to read

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The shocking moment a car flies through the air in a dangerous Hamilton roundabout crash. Video / Dash Cam Owners Australia

Terrifying footage has emerged of the moment a speeding car with four people inside went soaring through the air over a roundabout in Hamilton before crashing and rolling several times, leaving four people injured.

The incident, captured on dash cam by James, a driving training instructor, unfolded on the corner of Cobham Drive and Tristram Street in Hamilton on March 8, at 1.24am.

The footage captured the moment the vehicle gathered speed before overtaking James’ car on the inside lane.

The vehicle was then seen speeding through the intersection before losing control, becoming airborne and flying over the roundabout and nosediving into a street sign.

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The vehicle then rolled at least nine times before coming to a stop on its roof on the wrong side of the road.

James was with his wife Samantha, a former ambulance event medic, when the incident unfolded.

“Holy f***”, 111, 111, 111,” Samantha could be heard saying as the car somersaulted across the road.

“Don’t worry I’ve got it. F***,” James responded before the car had even come to a stand still.

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The is the moment a car went flying through the air before nosediving and rolling at least nine times in a crash that saw four people in injured in Hamilton on March 8.
The is the moment a car went flying through the air before nosediving and rolling at least nine times in a crash that saw four people in injured in Hamilton on March 8.

Fearful there could be severe injuries or casualties, James told the Herald he and his wife rushed over to the crash scene to help rescue those inside and was met with passengers screaming and panicking.

“There was a girl in the front seat, a teenager, screaming her head off. The car was still running when we got there. There was another teen in the back seat who got out himself, but my wife dove in and got the girl out of the front and managed to help get the driver out and turn the car off,” he said.

The couple claim that the one person remaining in the back seat, described as a “child” by both James and Samantha, was not responsive or breathing while still inside the car.

“I realised the person in the backseat wasn’t alright as he wasn’t talking,” James recalled. “I said [to Samantha] you need to check on this guy. We all just concentrated on getting this person out. It wasn’t until Samantha climbed into the back seat that she realised it was a child.

Emergency services work at the scene of a crash where a car went flying through the air before rolling at least nine times in a terrifying incident in Hamilton at 1.24am on March 8.
Emergency services work at the scene of a crash where a car went flying through the air before rolling at least nine times in a terrifying incident in Hamilton at 1.24am on March 8.

“He was basically dying in the back seat. He was within minutes of death,” James claimed.

“He was blue and bleeding through every orifice. We ended up pulling him out as best we could and it wasn’t until he was on the ground that he gasped for air,” James said.

“In no uncertain terms he was f***ed. The paramedics told us if we weren’t there he likely would have died. No ifs, buts and maybes about it.”

Samantha told the Herald they had everyone out of the car within about three minutes, and emergency services arrived seconds later.

A police spokesperson confirmed four people were in the car when it crashed, with three suffering minor injuries and another with serious injuries.

The aftermath of a crash where four people were injured after a car went flying over a roundabout, getting airborne and nosediving into a road sign before flipping several times and coming to a stop on its roof during a crash in Hamilton on March 8.
The aftermath of a crash where four people were injured after a car went flying over a roundabout, getting airborne and nosediving into a road sign before flipping several times and coming to a stop on its roof during a crash in Hamilton on March 8.

“Emergency services were notified about 1.30am on 8 March of a single vehicle having rolled at the roundabout at Cobham Dr and Tristram St, Hamilton Central,” they said in a statement.

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“There were four people in the car, one was seriously injured and the other three had minor injuries.”

Police wouldn’t confirm the ages of those involved in the crash.

James and Samantha claim the vehicle involved in the incident had no warrant of fitness, no registration, and had bald tyres.

Police wouldn’t confirm details of the vehicles WOF and registration status, what licence the driver was on, and whether the victim in the back seat was a child.

However, the Herald has found both the warrant of fitness and registration were expired by more than a year.

According to the NZTA website, the car registration has since been cancelled.

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When asked if police are continuing to look into the incident, a spokesperson said “Any further Police action is still being considered.”

Witness James and Samantha revisited the crash site the morning after the incident where they pulled three of the four people out of the vehicle.
Witness James and Samantha revisited the crash site the morning after the incident where they pulled three of the four people out of the vehicle.

The road the crash occurred on is a 60km/h zone.

Reflecting on the incident, the couple both said things could have been different for the passenger in the back seat if both the couple and paramedics weren’t on the scene within seconds.

Speaking to the Herald, Samantha said they don’t usually travel the route they took that night, and said it was a coincidence that they happened to be there, especially with her background with St John.

“I was originally going to go another way but decided to stay on the same road. Then to be told by paramedics on the scene that if we weren’t there to pull him out that he might not have survived... it’s a coincidence it played out how it did.

“We’re just glad no one died.”

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