Woman seriously hurt in crash near Tautoro in Northland

A woman was “lucky” to survive after she was involved in a head-on crash between a truck and a car in Tautoro south of Kaikohe yesterday.

The female driver had to be freed from her car following the crash on Mangakahia Rd shortly before 2pm.

Serious crash investigator Jeff Cramp said their investigations showed the crash occurred when the driver’s car drifted across the centre line for reasons still under investigation.

The force of the head-on impact was enough to damage and tear off the right-hand wheel of her vehicle.

“She is lucky to have survived it as she did,” Cramp said.

Cramp said the woman wasn’t the only occupant in the vehicle as emergency services also rescued her dog which looked visibly shaken but not hurt.

“The fella was walking just fine after the crash and was picked up by the council animal control services later on.”

Northland Fire Group manager Wayne Martin said Kaikohe firefighters took about 45 minutes to extricate the woman using rescue gear.

She was then taken to Bay of Islands Hospital in a serious condition,

The Advocate understands the impact of the crash caused the driver’s vehicle to land roughly 100m away from the truck.

The truck reportedly blocked both lanes of State Highway 15, especially after a tractor it was carrying fell off its trailer.

Northland Police Senior Sergeant Brian Swann said by evening, emergency services had cleared off the blockage using a heavy crane by 6pm and that the serious crash unit was investigating the matter.

Traffic was diverted via Piccadilly Rd, Mataraua Rd and State Highway 12.