A 64-year-old man had a miraculous escape after his car left the road yesterday afternoon.
The man, from New Plymouth, was conscious and talking minutes after a crash that badly damaged his car.
The accident occurred after the car veered off the road about 1.5 kilometres north of Maxwell on SH3.
Instead of following the road into a right turn, the car continued straight, spinning over a fence and clipping a wooden post, before coming to rest in a paddock.
Despite significant injuries, the man managed to tell police his name and details before being taken to Wanganui Hospital.
He was in a stable condition yesterday afternoon.
Fire, police, and ambulance raced to the crash, but the man was able to remove himself from the car without being cut out.
Police said fatigue could have been a factor in the crash, because there were no skid marks on the road and no indication of excess speed.
It was possible the driver fell asleep at the wheel.
The injured man was the only occupant of the car, and was lucky to avoid serious injury after leaving the road.
The car narrowly avoided a concrete pipe and came to rest on its wheels rather than upside-down.
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