A woman heard a “really loud crashing noise” around the same time as a person died after riding an e-scooter into a street pole. 

Police said a person died at the scene after hitting a pole and falling on a suburban Christchurch street overnight. 

Police and emergency services rushed to the scene of the e-scooter crash at the intersection of Brougham St and Waltham Rd in St Martins. 

The accident happened around 11pm. 

A police spokesperson said the rider had fallen off their scooter after hitting a pole. They died at the scene. 

Police blocked the road in the area while they worked to clear the scene. 

The Serious Crash Unit has been advised, the spokesperson said.  

A pole at the intersection of Brougham St and Waltham Rd is visibly damaged after an e-scooter rider hit it in a fatal crash on Friday night. Photo / Katie Oliver 

A woman living nearby said she heard a “really loud crashing noise” just before 11 pm. 

She also heard emergency services arrive but did not look to see what was going on. 

Another resident said he didn’t see the crash when it happened but watched from his window as emergency services arrived. 

”I was confused about what was going on, there were lots of police and ambulances around,” he said. 

“I saw maybe three police cars and ambulances show up, after that, firefighters came.”  

The intersection of Brougham St and Waltham Rd in Christchurch, where a fatal scooter crash occurred on Friday night. Photo / Katie Oliver 

This morning a bright-coloured paint marked the section of footpath where the accident happened. 

The incident follows a spate of serious scooter crashes in New Zealand. 

A man was left with serious head injuries after coming off an e-scooter in Auckland CBD on a dangerous stretch of road on College Hill. 

The rider came off his scooter and was immediately knocked unconscious, “bleeding profusely” from his head. 

Another man, Ryan Taylor, 30, died after crashing his e-scooter on Ian Mckinnon Drive in Eden Terrace in January. 

Toben “Toby” Hunt, 23, died in 2019 after falling from a Lime scooter in downtown Auckland. 

In September 2023, NZ Transport Agency Waka Kotahi made the decision renew e-scooters’ exemption from being classified as motor vehicles. 

Despite their speed they are allowed to travel on roads, cycleways and footpaths.