Driver cut from van after crash at Parkvale

An injured driver was cut free from his van after it collided with a logging truck at Parkvale yesterday morning.

The collision was one of two serious crashes within 12 hours, the first involving a motorcyclist who sustained critical injuries.

Carterton fire chief Wayne Robinson said the van driver sustained moderate to serious injuries in his collision, which happened at the intersection of Moreton and Para Rds about 7.20am.

"Fortunately the truck was empty and the guy in the van was very lucky. Things could have easily been a whole lot worse."

Mr Robinson said the van had been knocked on its side in the collision and the driver, who was in his 30s, had been left hanging by his seatbelt and trapped in the vehicle.

"The truckie and a passerby called emergency services and they both did a bloody good job holding the guy up until paramedics got to him," Mr Robinson said.

The injured driver had been taken to Wairarapa Hospital after firefighters had cut him free from the wreckage of the van

Meanwhile, a 49-year-old man is in intensive care after crashing his motorcycle on the Rimutaka Hill Rd near Featherston on Wednesday night.

The incident was reported to police just after 8pm, after the Porirua motorcyclist lost control on Bridge No 2.

Senior Sergeant Warwick Burr said the man had chest injuries, internal injuries and was slipping in and out of consciousness when paramedics arrived.

Wellington Free Ambulance was first to respond, and Life Flight's Westpac Rescue Helicopter followed, flying the man to Wellington Hospital.

A Wellington Hospital spokesman said yesterday the man was still in critical condition in the intensive care unit.

It is the second motorcycle crash in Wairarapa in the past week, a man in his 50s crashed near Martinborough after failing to take a corner and was flown to Wellington Hospital with moderate injuries on Saturday.