A driver who tore through Adelaide streets with his windscreen obscured by an open bonnet when he crashed into another car as he fled police is expected to face multiple charges.
Chief Inspector Brett Foster said police went to a house in Northfield just after noon on Monday when a 33-year-old Paralowie man wanted for serious criminal offences fled in the car.
He was hanging out of the car window to see ahead when a nearby police unit spotted the man and turned to pursue him.
A short time later, Mr Foster said the car crossed to the wrong side of the road and hit another car at an intersection in Ingle Farm.
The Paralowie man was taken to the Royal Adelaide Hospital with serious head and leg injuries.
He will be charged once he is released into police custody.
Mr Foster condemned the man's actions as "horrific".
"Driving down the road with a bonnet covering the windscreen of the vehicle, having to lean out through the driver's side window in order to see where he is going, just shows as total disregard for the safety of himself and all other road users, and ultimately that has caused the crash here," he told reporters at the scene.
"We can be thankful, in one sense, that it hasn't resulted in a far worse outcome than what we've experienced today."
Mr Foster said police would investigate police conduct during the pursuit.
Two men known to the man began fighting at the accident scene.
Both were arrested and charged with behavioural offences, police said.
