A disqualified driver injured while riding a motorcycle at Bucklands Crossing, north of Dunedin, yesterday was allegedly drunk, riding a stolen motorcycle, not wearing a helmet and on the wrong side of a gravel road when he collided with another vehicle, police said.
The man received a moderate leg injury and a broken wrist in the accident, which occurred shortly before midday on Ramrock Rd, 3km inland from Bucklands Crossing, Senior Sergeant Mel Aitken said.
He was flown to Dunedin Hospital by the Otago Regional Rescue Helicopter after the accident, she said.
It appeared the man had been part of a group camping in the area, before deciding to take the Suzuki DR650 trail bike for a ride, she said.
The crash occurred as the man rounded a blind corner on the wrong side of the road and met a utility vehicle coming the other way carrying stock, Snr Sgt Aitken said.
The motorcycle clipped the side of the ute and the rider was thrown off.
He was "certainly lucky to be alive", Snr Sgt Aitken said.
However, police were "not impressed" with his behaviour.
"[He's] not only putting himself in danger, but other road users."
The driver of the ute was not injured in the accident.
Friends of the injured man, who was in "quite a bit of pain", moved him back to the Bucklands Crossing camping site, where the rescue helicopter was able to land and retrieve him, Snr Sgt Aitken said.
A police investigation was continuing and it was too soon to say if charges would follow, she said.
The motorcycle was understood to have been stolen from a Dunedin address in November, but no other information was available yesterday, Senior Sergeant Craig Brown said.
The motorcycle was taken back to Dunedin by truck, he said.
A blood test had been taken to check the man's level of intoxication.
The results were expected in about three weeks.
• A 44-year-old motorcyclist was taken to Dunedin Hospital by ambulance after receiving moderate arm and leg injuries in an accident involving a utility vehicle on the Outram-Allanton road, about 2km southwest of Outram at 5.55pm yesterday, emergency service officials said.
• Police were heartened by an early low road toll for the Christmas and New Year holiday period, NZPA said; despite some reports of disturbing driver behaviour.
The period runs from 4pm on Christmas Eve to 6am on January 5, and heading into day four there has been only one reported fatality.
Farm worker Paul Lawrence McLaughlin (31) died after a crash in Waikato early on Christmas Day.
