One of the damaged vehicles is pictured being towed from the scene.
Police say a northbound utility and another utility collided on State Highway 1 at 6.45am as the northbound vehicle was waiting to turn right on to Forsyth Rd. The five people were from Milton and Balclutha, Constable Andy Denny said.
They suffered moderate injuries.
Police closed the highway for almost an hour, setting a detour in place.
It took Milton firefighters about 45 minutes to cut the driver out. He and three passengers of the vehicles were taken by ambulance to Dunedin Hospital. The other driver was taken by rescue helicopter.
Two police officers, two fire appliances and 11 firefighters attended the scene.
Police were still investigating the crash but were "fairly certain" speed was not a factor. Driver inattention might have caused the crash, they said.
