Parliament's state-of-the-art security bollards have claimed another victim - a tailgater trying to sneak in behind another car.
The Hyundai Santa Fe is the third car to be damaged by the electronic bollards that rise up out of the ground and strike unauthorised vehicles. It is unclear how much damage the car sustained, but it had to be towed from the Museum St entrance.
The bollard rose as the driver, who is not a Parliament staffer, drove over it, rupturing the oil sump and causing oil to leak all over the driveway.
They were installed early last month after a major security breach on Budget Day in May when a man drove a ute onto Parliament's forecourt.
Parliamentary Service spokeswoman Kathy Milne says the incident shows the bollards are working how they should.
"That's the whole purpose - to stop tailgaters."
Ms Milne said the car had "tried to jump in behind the car in front".
"It shows they [the bollards] are highly effective."
She said the only other two incidents of this nature were the two Crown Limousines damaged in the weeks after the bollards were installed.
They were also "user error" - one driver was also a tailgater and the other misjudged the time they had to drive across before the bollard rose up, Ms Milne said.
She said she wasn't sure exactly how much time drivers had to get across after they were granted access, but it's "certainly enough time to do it successfully".
Today Parliamentary Service staff soaked up the oil that leaked out of the damaged car with sand then scooped up the sand, but the oily water then ran down a stormwater drain.
Ms Milne said the incident was an example of the ongoing education of how to use the bollards.
The point of the bollards would be defeated if they retreated into the ground on contact with a vehicle, she said.
"The driver in question knows they did something they shouldn't have."
Three more sets of bollards are to be installed around Parliament - at Hill St, Molesworth St and Lambton Quay.
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