Those involved in a two-car crash in Dunedin on Saturday morning were ''very lucky'' to escape without more serious injuries.
Southern District Command Centre deployment co-ordinator Senior Sergeant Dave Scott said a Honda, carrying four men in their late teens and early 20s, rolled as it was travelling up North Rd about 8am.
A woman driving a Subaru down the hill, above the Normanby Tavern, had to take evasive action, left the road and crashed into a fence.
The two cars did not collide, but the woman's car ended up with a wooden handrail through its windscreen, which narrowly missed her.
All involved were ''very lucky'' to escape more serious consequences, Snr Sgt Scott said.
''People die in far less serious car crashes.''
The passengers in the car going up the hill could have been thrown out as it rolled.
''It sounds like the lady was lucky, too, because when she has crashed something has come through her windscreen.''
All five people were taken by St John ambulance to Dunedin Hospital with minor to moderate injuries, Senior Sergeant Craig Brown, of Dunedin, said.
The road was blocked for some time after the crash.
• A woman's arm was pinned under a ute after it rolled on a beach at Waikouaiti on Saturday night.
Police were notified at 11.35pm of the accident, near Matanaka Dr.
A St John spokesman said the woman was transported to Dunedin Hospital with a suspected dislocated shoulder and abrasions to her hand.
Southern District Command Centre Snr Sgt Brown said another woman failed a breath-alcohol test.
