Emergency services were called to the single-vehicle crash on Kenilworth Rd, Mayfair, about 12.30am on Sunday.
Police said a vehicle failed to stop for police after it was spotted driving at speed on the wrong side of Karamu Rd, Hastings.
The car fled down Kenilworth, before hitting a patch of gravel at the base of the railway lines, becoming "airborne", according to police.
A police spokeswoman said the car went over a fence and crashed into the stack of fruit bins.
Fire and Emergency New Zealand said the car landed about 10 metres off the ground in a stack of orchard crates.
Police said officers were not pursuing at the time of the crash.
"Our crews assisted with the extrication of the occupant," the FENZ spokesman said.
The male driver suffered serious injuries and was taken to Hawke's Bay Hospital.
Local resident Kristy Hall says she was watching TV when she was disturbed by a car "racing past" her house next to the railway line.
"I immediately thought that he was going way too fast to stop and jumped up out of bed," she said. "Before my feet hit the floor, there was a half second skid and then the bang."
Hall said police were swiftly on scene.
"My initial thoughts were filled with fear that they would be pulling a body from that car," she said.
"I believe he didn't have headlights on and obviously is not familiar with the area as he had no warning that this is a dead-end and from the reaction time, it was far too late once he realised."
Two fire trucks from Hastings, as well as the Serious Crash Unit, attended the scene.
Police are investigating the circumstances of the crash.
One person also sustained minor injuries after a three-vehicle crash in Waiohiki, Hastings, on Saturday afternoon.
Emergency services were called to the crash at the roundabout of the Hawke's Bay Expressway, near Links Rd, about 1.12pm.
Two fire trucks from Napier and one from Hastings attended the scene.
