Southern police have called for care to be taken on the road after several black-ice-related crashes.
Black ice was believed to be a factor in crashes in Dunedin, Gore and Mokotua on Thursday night and Friday morning, a fire service spokesman said.
The crashes were minor but also a timely reminder that ''winter driving conditions are vastly different to summer driving conditions'', Southern District Command Centre deployment co-ordinator Senior Sergeant Matt Scoles said.
''It's important that people are aware on particularly cold nights that it's not just the ice on the roads they can see, it's the ice they can't see that's most dangerous.''
The Southern district had some of the coldest conditions and most dangerous roads and people needed to take extra care and drive to the conditions, particularly with children returning to school next week, he said.
The warning comes after a van lost control near Clarks Junction and flipped off the road - pinning the driver's arm underneath the van - because of icy conditions on Wednesday morning.
A Dunedin Hospital spokeswoman said the man was progressing favourably in the orthopaedic ward last night.
