Incredible dashcam footage captured a row of scaffolding collapsing onto the road into the path of travelling cars in Tāmaki Makaurau Auckland on Wednesday.
The incident happened at a construction site on Peach Parade, Ellerslie, just after 11.30am.
Local man 'Grant' supplied the footage to Newshub, saying before the collapse nothing seemed out of the ordinary.
"I was just driving along," he said.
Grant said he was two cars behind a Tesla and had driven down a hill when he saw a possible disaster unfolding before his eyes.
"I could see it falling in front of me. And the elderly gentleman in the Tesla with his dog - he swerved right at the last minute."
The dog was fine, but the elderly man needed some comforting for about an hour, Grant said.
"He was definitely in shock when he came out."
The Tesla's windscreen and sunroof were seriously damaged in the accident.
"He had a little dog in the front seat. It [landed] like right on top of the wing mirror [of the Tesla]," said Grant.
What's at the construction site?
The scaffolding on site was four-storeys high.
Morton Construction is the developer turning the site into three-storey townhouses. The low-rise buildings were designed by Form Architects.
Morton referred Newshub to an email address but has not responded to requests for comment.
Newshub also called Kylin Scaffold, whose branding and contact details were on the scaffolding, but the calls were not answered.
Grant told Newshub he saw men in Hi Vis vests tending to the fallen scaffolding moments after the collapse, clearing debris off the road.
"They were sort of dismantling it pretty quick. They weren't taking any photos," Grant said.
He said no authorities turned up for a while.
"I wanted WorkSafe to see it. It could have been anyone [hurt]," he said.
Newshub saw two WorkSafe officers arriving at the scene later in the afternoon.
Two scaffolders, unconnected to Morton Construction, who arrived at the site on Wednesday afternoon told Newshub the scaffolding was constructed poorly, in their opinion.
Grant reckoned the part that remained standing had "more supports on it".
"The bit that's come down... doesn't seem to have as much support going the other way."
