6 Jan 2016

Car lifted off girl after learner driver mounts footpath

8:30 pm on 6 January 2016

A man who helped lift a car off a young girl run over by a learner driver says she was lucky there were people there to help.

The scene of the crash

The scene of the crash Photo: Te Awamutu Police

Te Awamutu police said a young woman was having a driving lesson with her mother in a New World car park in Whangamata today when she hit the accelerator instead of the brake.

The car mounted the footpath and ran over a young girl who had been passing by on a scooter with three of her friends.

Fergus Hope was at work across the road when he and his colleagues heard screaming.

"From the screams it became apparent that someone was under the car and so a few of us guys there lifted the car up on its side, so a joker could crawl underneath and get the little girl out from under it."

Mr Hope said the girl had some injuries but an ambulance soon arrived.

She was taken to Thames Hospital.

In a Facebook post, police said the girl was with her parents, and was "looking good," though the incident had been "very scary and traumatic" for those involved.