Emergency services were alerted to the incident about 1.45pm yesterday near Unity Park.
A Fire and Emergency New Zealand spokeswoman said a van had accidentally driven about halfway over a small bank and was "teetering" and "tilting" over the edge.
Two crews responded and found one person still inside the van.
While not injured nor trapped, the driver did not want to exit the vehicle, the spokeswoman said.
"They were reluctant to take their foot off the brake.
"They thought if they took their foot off the brake that the vehicle might topple down the bank."
The van was resting at about a 45 degree angle over the bank.
"Police described it as a 15m decline on a decent angle."
Firefighters secured the van and the driver was able to exit it with no issues.
It was then winched back onto the road, the spokeswoman said.
A passing motorist, who declined to be named, said the driver was lucky he and the van did not slide down the steep bank.
"I just saw the brake lights over the side of the bank, so I whipped down to make sure that he was okay," he said.
"He had used his common sense and made sure that he was hanging on to that brake — it was on a pretty severe angle.
"Below him was basically vegetation and a house."
Another man at the scene said he was having lunch and reading a book when the incident happened.
"I just looked up and there's a van down there."
A Hato Hone St John spokesperson confirmed they dispatched an ambulance to the scene, but it was not required.
Acting Senior Sergeant Iain Notman, of Dunedin, said the driver was parked at the Unity Park lookout ‘‘and when attempting to reverse to leave, pressed the wrong pedal and drove into the bush down the hill.’’
The van went about 5m down the bank before it came to a stop.
There was ‘‘suprisingly, minimal damage to the vehicle’’, Acting Snr Sgt Notman said.
