Woman, 80, injured on pedestrian crossing by fleeing car

An 80-year-old woman is recovering from leg injuries after she tried to protect herself from a car that was fleeing police on Auckland's North Shore.

The woman was walking across a pedestrian crossing when the white station wagon sped past.

She put her hands out to protect herself and was knocked to the ground at the busy intersection where Shakespeare, Kitchener and East Coast roads meet in Milford about 9.15am yesterday.

Moments earlier, police had recognised the car's driver as a wanted burglar and had chased him for 350 metres along Shakespeare Rd.

The man fled the scene but he was arrested by detectives yesterday afternoon.

The woman was taken by St John Ambulance to North Shore Hospital with what emergency services described as minor injuries to her lower legs.

One witness, who asked only to be known as Jess, said she watched the white car driving towards Milford on Shakespeare Rd.

"He was just travelling normally and then the police came and did a u-turn behind him and that's when he sped off. They just obviously recognised his car - I don't know why or how - and then did a u-turn with their lights and came back for him and he just split."

She said she did not see the accident, but she saw police assisting the lady soon after.

Witnesses said the woman's legs had been put in splints before she was taken away.

Police refused to comment at the scene.

David Wong, owner of nearby store Xtreme Photo Lab, said he first knew of the accident when he saw police outside.

"I saw an ambulance picking up an old lady and she was driven away and after that there were so many cops around ... she looked all right, she was sitting upright on the stretcher."

Staff at law firm Bell Anderson, who have an office in a first-floor building above the intersection, regularly see accidents at the site and believe something needs to be done to prevent more. They say the intersection is notorious and the elderly people that reside in Milford often struggle to get across the busy and complicated junction.

The intersection has four pedestrian crossings - each leading on to small islands where pedestrians press the button to await the green light.

But Bell Anderson employee Marcia Weaver said she often saw elderly people waiting to cross at the pedestrian crossings while drivers ignored them.

"There are a lot of old people that live around here and I know they don't like crossing the road because I've been asked a lot of times to take them across the road," Mrs Weaver said.

"They're afraid to actually cross the road ... I think it's too confusing and the area to cross over is too large and I think people need to stop and not speed."

She said some drivers even tooted their horns at elderly people who were slow to cross the road.

"You know you're going to be old one day and you just hope someone younger will look after you."