An innocent motorist is lucky to be alive after a fleeing driver crashed into her ute at high speed in Christchurch before running from the scene.

A police spokeswoman told Chris Lynch a car that officers had tried to stop earlier, collided with a ute on Main North Road at Radcliffe Road.

The crash happened about midnight.

The driver, an innocent motorist of the second car received serious injuries.

From her hospital bed, the driver told Chris Lynch she was heading home from “a girl’s night out.”

“My best friend and I went looking for Christmas lights all over Christchurch and Kaiapoi. I had just dropped her home and was leaving her subdivision turning right from Northwood Boulevard onto Main North Road on a green light.”

”I was halfway in the middle of the road and looked right to see his (offender) headlights. I put my foot flat on the accelerator to get out of the way, but it was too late and he hit my driver’s side. Fortunately, it was not my door. It was the back door and canopy but I took all that impact.”

“I saw his lights and a speeding car coming for me. I literally had no escape route or time to get out of the situation.”

“I remember being hit and starting to spin.”

“He hit me at an estimate of 130 kilometres, per hour, if not more. The first question I asked when someone came to my rescue was is the other driver ok? That’s all I wanted to know, but he didn’t even care – he just ran away.”

“It took well over an hour for firefighters to free me from the ute.” she said.

“I am just so thankful I am alive and no one else was in the car with me.”

Her husband said his wife can’t move her right leg at the moment, and there’s internal bruising.

“She kept going in and out of consciousness in the ambulance and during the first hour at the hospital, she kept passing out on us.”

He said every action has an effect on someone else.

“When this guy made the decision to not stop for the police, his actions have had an effect on our family’s life.”

The husband said the crash added to an already tough year, as he suffered a severe hand injury, his son was in hospital, and he was at risk of losing his business.

“This could be the final straw that could make us go bankrupt.”

The husband wanted to give thanks to the first responders.

“They’re the real heroes. There are still good Kiwis out there, putting aside their own time and safety to look after someone else, and it’s lovely to see that’s still strong in our country.”

Police confirmed the driver of the car which had earlier refused to stop fled the scene on foot but was located with the assistance of a police dog unit.

He was also taken to hospital with injuries.

Charges are yet to be laid.