Rental car driven through pharmacy in road rule confusion

It was a massive loud noise

It was less a smash and grab, and more an accelerate and shake of the head.

Startled onlookers watched in horror as the driver of a Suzuki Swift rental car accelerated from the central carriageway of the Octagon, and drove straight through a large window of Antidote Pharmacy in central Dunedin on Wednesday, about 9pm.

One onlooker told Stuff that it was only when the car was fully immersed in the shop when an onlooker saw the brake lights comes on.

“It was a massive loud noise,’’ he said.

A 55-year-old woman was the driver of the rental vehicle when she “became confused by the New Zealand road rules, and also the brake and accelerator”, Senior Sergeant Anthony Bond said.

The incident attracted a large emergency response and hundreds of onlookers, while the business was covered in broken glass and had some stock strewn around the car.

Pharmacist Lloyd Kan said the car went “clean through” a large corner window, and “it didn’t touch the sides”.

The vehicle damaged some shelves and a counter, but no structural damage was done to the building.

The building was boarded up on Wednesday night, with staff from other Antidote shops working to clean the mess, and it was open for business on Thursday morning.

The window was to be replaced later that afternoon, Kan said.

Police reported no injuries from the crash, but the rental vehicle was moderately damaged.

The investigation into the cause of the crash was on-going.