By ALISON BROWN in Rotorua
A car driven by an out-of-control teen ploughed through two fences and narrowly avoided colliding with a house where a 16-month-old baby lay asleep yesterday.
The accident on Reeve Rd in the Rotorua suburb of Owhata has angered residents who say they are
sick and tired of their road being used as a race track by speedsters.
They fear someone will get hurt or killed unless the Rotorua District Council installs judder bars along the road to slow motorists down.
At about 4.30pm a car wiped out two wooden fences and came close to hitting a house after a young woman lost control of her car and mounted the curb.
One of six people inside the house at the time, Renee Hodgins, 18, said she heard the car speeding up and down the road shortly before the accident.
"I heard this loud bang then I saw the car coming towards the house," she said.
"It sounded like the driver had their foot down on the accelerator."
After wiping out fences belonging to her neighbour and parents, the car came to an abrupt halt after hitting an abandoned dog kennel just metres from a bedroom where her 16-month-old niece was sleeping.
Her father, who was also asleep at the time of the accident, woke to see three of the four women in the car run down the road and into a house.
Both Miss Hodgins and her father ran after the trio before calling police.
"I was just angry and wanted them to come back to clean up their mess."
Eventually, the young women returned to join their friend who had stayed at the scene to face police and angry residents.
Miss Hodgins said she feared more accidents would happen unless judder bars were installed.
"It's just a straight stretch of road and cars hoon up here all the time."
Constable Koroniria Ngawhika of the Rotorua police said last night it was too soon to say if charges would be laid against the 16-year-old driver. She denied speeding and claimed an object was thrown at her car which forced her to swerve and lose control.
He hoped information from witnesses walking along Reeve Rd at the time would shed more light on what caused the acciden
