Lucky escape: NSW teens survive horrific cliff-side crash

Two teenagers have had an extremely lucky escape after the ute they were travelling in tumbled off a cliff-side road near Wollongong and rolled 70 metres down an embankment.

NSW Police believe the 17-year-old P-plater was driving over the speed limit and lost control along the Sea Cliff Bridge in the early hours of Saturday morning.

“They've gone through the fence, got airborne, rolled, landed on their roof, rolled again”, Steve Raskey who witnessed the crash, told 7 News.

The lucky teenagers were able to escape after their ute was halted by a tree down the embankment.

The pair were just metres short of plunging into the ocean below.

Police at the scene said both the driver and passenger came away without major injuries.

Inspector Charles Hutchins from Wollongong Police said: “The 17-year-old male driver had a wrist injury and some superficial injuries. The 18-year-old passenger, he suffered a number of superficial injuries”.

Another witness, Chris Kennedy, said the teenager had a “little scratch” on his head and refused to get checked out by paramedics.

"He was concerned about leaving his tools in the ute which were worth a bit of money," Mr Kennedy told reporters.

"Extremely lucky. I think everyone who was on site was saying they should go out and buy a Lotto ticket."

The two young men managed to crawl through a window and up the embankment to safety.

“Police will be alleging that the driver was driving in excess of the posted speed limit and he's failed to negotiate a left hand turn,” Inspector Hutchins said.