Accident blamed on bird

Cromwell police are investigating a single-vehicle crash in which a 24-year-old Dunedin woman lost control of a Subaru vehicle on State Highway 8 in the Cromwell Gorge about 11.30am yesterday.

Constable Maude O'Connell said police were told a bird had flown into the vehicle's windscreen, causing the driver to veer left, sending the vehicle's wheels into a drain. The car careered up a bank and rolled, she said.

No other vehicles were involved in the crash, and the woman was alone in the car, Const O'Connell said.

The driver suffered bumps and bruises and was taken by ambulance to Dunstan Hospital, Clyde, for medical checks. The woman was discharged from hospital yesterday afternoon.

Const Maude said SH8 was restricted to one lane for less than an hour while emergency crews dealt with the incident and the vehicle was towed away.

• Two tourists were lucky to escape injury after a stock-crate door came off a truck and bounced on to the bonnet of their rental car on State Highway 1 at Hampden, just after 6pm on Tuesday, police said.

The door came off what was believed to be a southbound truck and trailer, bounced towards the northbound car and bounced on to the bonnet.

It punctured the bonnet, damaging the engine and immobilising it.

The truck driver did not appear to notice what had happened and continued south. Police were keen to talk to any truck companies missing a crate door.