Following a crash this morning on the Hawke’s Bay Expressway, Road Policing acknowledge the value of a new wire rope barrier.
The recently installed barrier runs down the median strip of the expressway, between Napier and Hastings.
Police were called to a single-car crash around 11am after a 71-year-old man driving north on the road near the Links Road roundabout blacked out at the wheel.
After driving into the barrier for approximately 12 metres the car came to a stop.
The vehicle was extensively damaged and towed from the scene, while the driver was taken to Hawke’s Bay Hospital with minor injuries.
Senior Sergeant Dan Foley, Prevention Manager, Road Policing says he is relieved the barrier did its job and the man came to no further harm.
“Witnesses told Police that if he hadn’t driven into the barrier, he would have driven straight into a truck coming in the opposite direction.
“The driver has said he’s extremely grateful for the barrier. He says it saved his life”
The driver plans to buy a Lotto ticket.
ENDS
Issued by the Police Media Centre