Taiwanese tourist’s first time on New Zealand roads - Roaring Meg crash
Otago Lakes Road Policing Sergeant Bruce Martin prepared for the busy summer season.
A 34-year-old Taiwanese tourist, who ploughed head on into a local family near Roaring Meg on Sunday, 15 November, seriously injuring a Queenstown woman, was driving for the first time on New Zealand’s open roads, Police say.
Otago Lakes Road Policing Sergeant Bruce Martin says while investigations are continuing, speed was not a factor in the crash just before midday, which appeared to have been caused by driver inattention.
The visiting driver was charged with careless driving causing injury and ordered to pay $8400 reparation, including $2000 for emotional harm, and disqualified from driving for six months when he appeared in the Queenstown District Court on Monday, 17 November, Martin says.
The Toyota Prado he was driving, with three passengers on board, crossed the centreline on a windy corner with a 55km/hr speed advisory and hit the family’s Ford Ranger ute, which was towing a trailer, head on, he says. “The local man driving the Ranger, which was heading towards Cromell from Queenstown, took evasive action but had nowhere to go and crashed into a steep, rocky bank,” Martin says. The family was believed to be from the Queenstown area – two adults and two young children. The woman was airlifted to Dunedin Hospital by Otago Southland Rescue Helicopter with serious injuries, including multiple fractures, where she underwent surgery and is expected to take a number of months to recover, Martin says. The Taiwanese driver was heading towards Queenstown.
Both vehicles were extensively damaged and written off. “There was obviously a reasonable impact,” he says.
Another patient was taken to Lakes District Hospital by road with moderate injuries.
A St John Ambulance spokesperson says they treated a serious patient who was airlifted to Dunedin, and the patient in a moderate condition,
assessing a further six patients on the scene, all of whom suffered minor injuries. One ambulance, an operations manager and the rescue helicopter responded.
Martin is urging motorists to pay attention – Kiwi and overseas drivers, especially in the lead up to the busy summer holiday season.
“All it takes is one moment’s inattention, particularly if you’re unfamiliar with the roads,” he says.
