Lucky escape on notorious road

A space-saver tyre is likely to have caused an early morning crash, so serious that the 18-year-old male driver was "lucky" to survive, police say.

The accident happened just before 8am yesterday, as the man was travelling from Haumoana to a course in Taradale, along Farndon Rd.

It was the fourth serious incident there since a fatal crash on the notorious stretch last October.

Acting Senior Sergeant of the Eastern District Road Policing Group Clint Adamson said people needed to be mindful of steep drains lining either side of the narrow road.

"They can be very unforgiving if you do make a mistake," he said.

In this case, however, it is believed the space-saver tyre, not speed or road conditions, caused the crash.

"He had a space saver on the rear left of the vehicle," Hastings Police Senior Constable Tim Rowe said. "He's lost control coming off a sweeping right-hand corner, crossed the centre line, over-corrected, hit the embankment and flipped end over end in the ditch."

The car landed upside down near the entrance of a culvert, and while the man sustained a fractured pelvis and arm, it could have been far worse.

"He is more than fairly lucky," Mr Rowe said. "The likelihood is, if he had not been belted in we could have been dealing with a fatal crash."

The 18-year-old was taken to Hawke's Bay Hospital by St John Ambulance, where he remained in a stable condition last night.

St John district operations manager Steven Smith described his injuries as "serious".

"He has a fracture to his pelvis and fractures to his [left] arm," he said.

Mr Rowe said the accident was a reminder for people only to use a space-saver tyre to get from A to B.

"He had been driving around with the space saver on for two to three weeks. They are not designed for travelling on open roads for long periods of time."

Why do you think there are so many single car accidents on Farndon Road. Text to 021 980 222