A young child was seriously hurt in a car crash near Balclutha this morning.
The 5-year-old girl was in a car travelling north with her parents and a sibling when the driver of the vehicle lost control on ''severe black ice'', Detective Sergeant Stan Leishman, of Balclutha, said.
Another vehicle, driven by a 50-year-old man, collided with the rear of the vehicle which had lost control about 7am on State Highway 1, about 8km south of Balclutha, he said.
The girl was in a stable condition at Dunedin Hospital.
She was taken to hospital by helicopter with serious injuries, he said. The vehicle's three other occupants and the driver of the other vehicle received minor injuries.
The girl was accompanied by her mother and family members travelled to Dunedin to be with them.
''The road conditions were extreme ice which has been the cause of the vehicle losing control,'' Det Sgt Leishman said.
''We implore drivers to drive to the conditions.''
Southern District Command Centre deployment co-ordinator Senior Sergeant Matt Scoles said police staff were aware of several ''heavy patches'' of ice on Southern roads overnight.
Grit trucks had laid gravel in areas to make the roads safer, he said.
