Speeding drivers causing havoc - Accidents waiting to happen
Police and rental vehicle companies are concerned about accidents waiting to happen on local roads, with increasing numbers of overseas tourists featuring high in near misses, cases of dangerous passing and speeding recently, many headed for Milford.
Te Anau Police say hots spots are the southern end of the Devil’s Staircase, Five Rivers and the Milford Road as tourists, concerned they’ll miss their Milford boat cruises, speed from Queenstown, taking risks on the road.
Otago Lakes Road Policing Sergeant Bruce Martin says it’s a problem from Christchurch through to Milford with his staff constantly on the lookout too, especially on the Lindis Pass, from Omarama, through the Kawarau Gorge and south of Queenstown.
Just last Friday, (23 January) Martin ticketed a young Texan woman in a rental car who allegedly overtook him in an unmarked patrol car on double yellow lines just past Lake Hayes, then continued to overtake five more drivers ahead of him still on double yellow lines.
“She was in her 30s and had just left Queenstown at lunchtime headed for Picton – an eight to 10-hour drive which she was expecting to do in one day,” he says. The incident occurred just before Arrow Junction and Martin says she’d overtaken five more vehicles by the time he caught up with her at the Kawarau Bungy Bridge.
“Just as she pulled into her correct lane an oncoming car came over the crest of the hill.” The woman was fined $150 and her partner took over the driving.
He says it’s not only overseas drivers. Police receive many driving complaints, from Lindis Pass through Omarama, over the Crown Range to Queenstown. Police work hard to catch these people and slow them down before they head south, he says.
Martin’s recently had to talk to an overseas driver who stopped his vehicle in the middle of a main highway to get out and take a photo. Other drivers run off the road and crash while looking at the scenery instead of concentrating on driving, he says.
“These people aren’t used to our roads and open spaces and don’t understand the rules because they only drive at 50km/hr in heavy laned traffic at home,” he says.
“People from certain countries where the culture is different don’t understand what red and blue flashing lights mean, or roadside speed advisories, or yellow lines,” he says. “They come from a completely different driving environment.
“We get people overtaking on corners and yellow lines. You’d think common sense would dictate….”
Australians who are stopped and fined for speeding look surprised at the low cost of the fine as their fines at home are so much higher, Martin says.
It’s also customary where some drivers are from to overtake, expecting any oncoming traffic to pull aside, Police say.
Rental vehicle operators are also very concerned about what they say is an alarming increase in speeding drivers and near misses in rental vehicles driven by overseas tourists and Kiwis, many racing to Milford. They’re hoping to meet with the Te Anau community and Police to try and combat the problem.
One driver recently was believed to have been clocked by Police at 170km/hr.
Rental Vehicle Association of NZ CEO Ben McFadgen says it’s not only endangering lives but costing companies a lot of money with vehicles damaged and off the road.
Some companies using GPS monitoring have clocked rental vehicle drivers at 140km/hr and even more “horrendous” speeds, ringing to warn them if they don’t slow down that the car will be taken off them, McFadgen says.
Martin says Police work with rental companies in an effort to combat the problem, but reiterates there are plenty of Kiwi drivers breaking the rules too.
“We do get bad driving, sometimes from Kiwis too. They get frustrated in long lines of traffic and make stupid decisions.”
