Journey ends in ditch

Firefighters help free a female passenger after the car she was in hit black ice yesterday. Photo...
Firefighters help free a female passenger after the car she was in hit black ice yesterday. Photo by Stephen Jaquiery.

A couple were lucky to escape with only minor injuries after their car lost control on black ice yesterday morning.

Emergency services were called to a serious crash on State Highway 1 on the Evansdale side of the Kilmog, about 6.45am.

''It appears as though they have struck black ice, and as it [the cat] was heading south it has veered off left and rolled down into a ditch,'' constable Jon-Paul Tremain, of Waikouaiti, said.

The male driver was able to walk from the vehicle, his female partner had to be cut out by firefighters as a precaution as she ''was complaining of a sore neck''.

She was taken by ambulance to Dunedin Hospital with minor injuries, he said.

''Any crash that we don't get somebody too badly hurt is a lucky escape.''

He urged motorists to drive to conditions, and noted the occupants from the crash had arrived on a flight from Sydney before driving from Christchurch to Invercargill that morning.

''Before you go on a long journey, make sure you have adequate rest,'' he said.

hamish.mcneilly@odt.co.nz

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