Man stable after car rolls down bank

A man is in Tauranga Hospital after his car came off the road and rolled over a bank on State Highway 2 near Katikati.

The crash on SH2 at its intersection with Wright Road happened shortly before 5pm when the BMW rolled 20 – 30metres down a bank and landed upright, trapping the driver inside.

Emergency services work to free the man from his “totalled” car. Photos by Stan Olliff.

Police, St John Ambulance paramedics and firefighters attended the scene and freed the man from the car before transporting him up the bank into a waiting ambulance.

Katikati Volunteer Fire Brigade senior firefighter Brendan Gibbs says the man was complaining of a sore neck when emergency services arrived.

“We had to wrench the door further back to make room to get him out. We didn’t have to use any cutting gear.”

Brendan says the car was “totalled”, with a collapsed roof and mangled panels.

Traffic was slowed along the highway while emergency services work to clear the scene with a second fire truck controlling traffic at peak time.

St John checked the man’s injuries before taking him to Tauranga Hospital.

Traffic was slowed along SH2 while emergency services worked to clear the scene. Photo: Stan Olliff.