University of Otago student Tahlia Moir, of Roxburgh, said she was travelling south on State Highway 1 in Cumberland St and had stopped her Nissan Pulsar at the traffic lights at Museum Reserve.
She was waiting for the lights to change when a Honda CRV crashed into the back of her car about 9am.
Hers was the final car to be hit in the ''chain reaction'' crash on the stretch of the one-way between Union Pl and Albany St.
At the crash scene it appeared a black Subaru Legacy hit the back of a red Hyundai Sonata, which hit the back of a blue Honda CRV, which hit Miss Moir's Nissan.
University of Otago law and music student Latafale Auva'a, of South Auckland, said she was driving the Hyundai.
She was following her boyfriend, Callum Lynch-Hines, who was driving the Honda to a mechanic for servicing when she crashed into him.
''My car went under him,'' Miss Auva'a said.
She had third party insurance on her late-model Hyundai, which she expected would be written off.
''At least it went out in a blaze of glory.''
Mr Lynch-Hines, of the North Shore, said he asked his girlfriend to follow him to the mechanic yesterday so she could drop him at Leith Valley Presbyterian Church where he worked.
He bought the Honda last week and was uninsured but he had been reassured the owner of the Subaru had a comprehensive insurance policy.
The multi-car pile-up blocked the left lane of the road, forcing traffic to converge into the right lane.
Miss Auva'a said about 10 minutes after the initial crash, a car and a Kenworth logging truck collided at the next set of traffic lights further north on the same stretch of road.
A St John spokeswoman said no-one was injured in the crashes.
