Driver trapped after Targa crash

Duntroon firefighter Brittany Herrick  and Targa South Island accident investigator Neil Madden...
Duntroon firefighter Brittany Herrick and Targa South Island accident investigator Neil Madden inspect the wreckage of the Honda Civic after its driver was cut out. Photo by David Bruce.
Airlift . . . The driver of the car is taken by medical personnel to the waiting Otago Regional...
Airlift . . . The driver of the car is taken by medical personnel to the waiting Otago Regional rescue helicopter from the scene of the crash. PHOTO: DAVID BRUCE
Treated . . . Paramedics (left) treat the driver beside his crashed car where it came to rest...
Treated . . . Paramedics (left) treat the driver beside his crashed car where it came to rest after hitting a clay bank on a special stage on the Ngapara-Georgetown Rd near the Glen Settlement Rd intersection. PHOTO: DAVID BRUCE
Trapped . . . Rescuers work on freeing the driver of the crashed car while paramedics provide...
Trapped . . . Rescuers work on freeing the driver of the crashed car while paramedics provide medical treatment after it hit a clay bank on the Ngapara-Georgetown Rd near the Glen Settlement Rd intersection yesterday. PHOTO: DAVID BRUCE
Trapped . . . Rescuers work on freeing the driver of the crashed car while paramedics provide...
Trapped . . . Rescuers work on freeing the driver of the crashed car while paramedics provide medical treatment after it hit a clay bank on the Ngapara-Georgetown Rd near the Glen Settlement Rd intersection yesterday. PHOTO: DAVID BRUCE
Trapped . . . Rescuers work on freeing the driver of the crashed car while paramedics provide...
Trapped . . . Rescuers work on freeing the driver of the crashed car while paramedics provide medical treatment after it hit a clay bank on the Ngapara-Georgetown Rd near the Glen Settlement Rd intersection yesterday. PHOTO: DAVID BRUCE
Treated . . . Paramedics (left) treat the driver beside his crashed car where it came to rest...
Treated . . . Paramedics (left) treat the driver beside his crashed car where it came to rest after hitting a clay bank on a special stage on the Ngapara-Georgetown Rd near the Glen Settlement Rd intersection. PHOTO: DAVID BRUCE

A doctor in a following race car rushed to the aid of a father and son injured in a high-speed crash in the Targa South Island Rally in North Otago yesterday afternoon.

The Wellington driver was trapped from the waist down for more than an hour and a-half in his 1992 Honda Civic. After being freed, he was flown to Dunedin Hospital with serious leg injuries.

He was injured when the car went out of control and smashed into a clay bank.

The co-driver - his son - was able to get out of the wrecked vehicle, but then collapsed from what appeared to be shock, witnesses said.

One of the first on the scene was the doctor, from Auckland, who was in a following rally car.

She cared for both men and put the co-driver in the recovery position.

The men's names had not been released last night.

Sergeant Peter Muldrew, of the Oamaru highway patrol, said the driver lost control of his vehicle after coming over the brow of a hill, towards a left-hand bend, at a ''significant speed''.

The car ploughed straight ahead, hitting a clay bank, then bounced off. The rear of the car then hit the bank again and the car rolled on its side, he said.

''There are three things you don't want to hit - a tree, post or clay bank,'' he said.

Emergency services, including the Otago Regional Rescue Helicopter, were called to Glenn Settlement Rd, near Georgetown, about 4.20pm.

The driver's side of the car took the worst of the impact, trapping the driver from just below his waist, Sgt Muldrew said.

He remains in Dunedin Hospital with serious leg injuries.

The co-driver was taken by ambulance to Oamaru Hospital with what was believed to be a broken wrist.

Ken Wheeler, one of the marshals at the Glen Settlement-Ngapara Georgetown Rds intersection, said he did not witness the crash, but saw the car approaching the corner more quickly than some of the others - despite caution signs in place. He then heard the impact.

Marshals had been told not to go on to the road if there was a crash, because specialist assistance was available, but he and another marshal were called to help turn the car back on its wheels.

He said a woman in the following rally car was a doctor who provided immediate first aid.

Clerk of the course James Logan, of Auckland, said last night the doctor was soon assisted by Targa paramedics and specialist crash crews.

Officials were investigating the cause of the crash, which happened on the second running of stage 14 (Duntroon to Ngapara).

Farmer Ken Elliott said local people had been complaining to the Waitaki District Council for years about the corner, which had an average of ''at least one or two crashes a year''.

''There's been crashes there ever since I can remember.

''Drivers get caught out by the camber and the downhill approach [to the bend], losing control and hitting the bank, going through fences, up the bank or hitting the [power] pole [at the bend].''

The council had put in 65kmh speed warning signs for the bend, but locals also wanted chevron arrow indicator boards to give additional warning, he said.

The rally will continue today, as scheduled, with stages in and around Dunedin this morning and the Catlins this afternoon.

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