Dukes of Hazzard Style Crash

[trippytaka]

All I can say is WOW.

http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/6058...tyle-car-crash

A Dukes of Hazzard-style car crash in Bell Block has left residents wondering how no-one was killed.

The Subaru Legacy flew 15 metres off the motorway ramp and speared into the side of The Warehouse, shunting the concrete-slab wall back about a metre.

Witnesses say the car had been seen earlier travelling at 190kmh as it headed north from New Plymouth.

They suspect it had been racing another car during the drama at 4am on Saturday.

There were no skid marks or rubber left on the road to indicate the driver had attempted to brake.

Five of the six people in the car were taken to Taranaki Base Hospital.

An 18-year-old is in a stable condition in intensive care with multiple injuries.

A 21-year-old with head injuries was discharged on Monday, and an 18-year-old with spinal injuries was sent home from the hospital yesterday.

Police say excessive speed and alcohol contributed to the crash, but inquiries are continuing.

The force of the impact shattered part of a concrete wall at The Warehouse and a section of the store, which bears the scars of the impact, remained cordoned off yesterday.

A store manager told the Taranaki Daily News that head office had said not to allow the media access to photograph inside the building.

Cameron Brill was one of the first on the scene and he was expecting to find bodies.

"Just from the way that the car looked, it looked like someone was going to be dead," he said.

Mr Brill said he and his two passengers all called 111 and then set about helping people out of the car.

One of the passengers had a gash across the top of his head, and another had a lump the size of a tennis ball on the side of his head, he said.

Debbie Taylor, an attendant at the Bell Block Caltex service station, said yesterday she had been told the driver had been trying to jump between the off and on-ramps.

"Dukes of Hazzard-style," Mrs Taylor said.

"It's attracted so much interest people are amazed and shocked that they have walked away from that alive.

"It's an example to the young ones that they can't live on luck alone."

Most people were saying the car had been travelling at about 190kmh, she said.

"I heard from one customer, a truck driver, that when they passed him it felt like he was stationary."

Shifty's Sports Bar manager Corrine Verstraten said there had been many rumours circulating in the village about the crash.

"We heard one of them was almost scalped and one almost had his face ripped off," Miss Verstraten said.

"They reckon they were doing about 200kmh." She said there had also been rumours the car had been racing another vehicle moments before the crash.

Tania Johns, of Bell Block Barbers, said the crash was a hot topic of discussion around the town. "How no-one was killed is amazing really," Mrs Johns said.

She said hordes of people were stopping to check out the crash site.

Senior Sergeant Allan Whaley said police were waiting for the results of a blood sample taken from the 20-year-old driver to show if he had been drinking.

"There was certainly excessive speed involved, there is no doubt about that," Mr Whaley said.

"They are very lucky to still be alive." Mr Whaley said it was not known if the car had been racing another vehicle.

"If there are any witnesses to that we would ask them to come forward," he said.