The damaged car on Colombo Rd. PHOTOS/JADE CVETKOV
‘Huge bang’ then the lights went out
Power cut to 830 properties
KAREN COLTMAN
[email protected]
A woman is in Wairarapa Hospital’s high dependency unit after she crashed into a power pole, destroying it and the car she was driving.
Witnesses said she had been driving north on Colombo Rd, Masterton, when she hit the pole at about 7.30pm on Tuesday night.
The six-cylinder Ford Falcon spun down a bank leaving the back wheel on the passenger side elevated off the ground.
The front of the Ford was smashed back into the front wheel and leg room for the driver was reduced to only about 10cm from the seat.
The steering wheel had been ripped off and the front windscreen was smashed.
The woman was taken to Wairarapa Hospital and was in a stable condition on Wednesday in the high dependency unit.
A man who was on his way to the Pioneer Rugby clubrooms for his Tuesday darts night saw the car smash head-on into the power pole on Colombo Rd.
He said the street lights went out and power lines were lying across the vehicle.
The car had come to a stop down a bank.
“It was a big bang. I was first on the scene and helped her out.”
He said other people at the clubrooms saw the car being driven well above the 50kmh speed limit before it crashed.
The crashed car’s speedometer was stuck at 90kmh.
At the crash scene on Wednesday, there was damage to the footpath and the bank, and bits of power pole and debris from the car was scattered around the rugby club’s car park.
The crash cut power to about 830 properties with all but 47 households having power restored by 9.30pm that night.
The power pole was replaced by 2am Wednesday.
A dog was also in the crash and was found by Lakeview School pupils on Wednesday morning.
It has been returned to the home where it is registered.
Wairarapa Police had not commented on the crash by the time of yesterday’s publication.
