Crimeline: Driver charged over Lake Hayes crash
A 29-year-old local male is facing two charges of careless driving causing injury after a serious head on crash on State Highway 6 at Lake Hayes at about 7.20am on Tuesday.
Otago Lakes Central area road policing manager Senior Sergeant Steve Watt says a Nissan vehicle heading towards Queenstown, near Bendemeer Lane, crossed the centre line, crashing head on into a ute travelling in the opposite direction.
The 34-year-old passenger in the ute was flown to Dunedin Hospital and remains in intensive care with extensive injuries. The ute’s 34-year-old driver has also had to undergo emergency surgery and remains in Dunedin Hospital. All three were local residents on their way to work.
The driver of the Nissan was initially transported to Lakes District Hospital and later transferred to Southland Hospital for knee surgery and Watt says Police investigations are continuing.
“Part of that accident was attributed to distraction,” Watt says. “The offending driver was reaching to get something off the dashboard which caused him to swerve.” He has been bailed to appear in the Queenstown District Court on Monday, 26 August.
Watt is urging drivers to be extra defensive and cautious, to put phones and other distractions away, and concentrate on driving. “You’re in charge of a big piece of machinery which has the potential to kill you if you get it wrong.”
Uber driver dragged from vehicle and assaulted
A 53-year-old local man was arrested and charged with assault after he allegedly dragged an Uber driver from his vehicle and attempted to kick him at 9.15pm on Sunday, 18 August, all because he’d been asked not to eat food in the car. Watt says this sparked an argument and the offender then allegedly dragged the driver from his seat. “The victim was uninjured but very shaken up by the incident.”
Drunken Aussie broke shop sign
A “highly intoxicated” Aussie tourist was made to pay for wilful damage to a downtown Shotover Street shop sign after he broke it in broad daylight at 6:14pm on Monday, 19 August, in front of the staff who worked there, Watt says. Police located the man in an Uber and he returned to the shop to pay.
Drunk driver flips vehicle on Glenorchy Road
A 27-year-old Queenstown man, who flipped his vehicle after hitting a bank along the Glenorchy Road at 5.30pm on Saturday, 17 August, blew 707mcgs/litre in a breath test. “It’s just another reminder that alcohol seriously affects your ability to drive, and he was lucky the outcome was not more serious as he put everyone else on the roads at risk,” Watt says. Police are awaiting blood test results, but charges are pending, and the man will appear in the Queenstown District Court.
