Gravel surfaces ‘isn’t the issue’ in road safety
Sealing the Mackenzie Basin gravel road where three tourists were killed in a head-on crash on Friday would be uneconomical, the district’s mayor says.
However, Graham Smith did not rule out a default speed limit on gravel roads throughout the district.
As investigations continue into the cause of the collision between a four-wheel-drive ute and a rental car on Braemar Rd between lakes Tekapo and Pukaki, Smith said it would not be economically viable to ‘‘seal everything’’.
He said gravel roads – the Mackenzie district has about 520 kilometres of unsealed roading – needed to be treated ‘‘with respect’’.
‘‘It wouldn’t be economically viable to seal everything, and sometimes sealing isn’t the issue,’’ Smith said.
‘‘Although the default speed limit is 100kmh, you are required to drive to the conditions, and our conditions on a lot of those roads is not 100kmh.
‘‘I think longer term the default speed limit on shingle roads will be 80kmh instead of 100kmh.
‘‘Whether that will make a difference, I don’t know. I don’t know that speed was an issue on Friday’s accident.’’
Smith added that a lower default speed limit on gravel roads may be something the Mackenzie District Council discusses at a later date.
Council assets group manager Bernie Haar said ‘‘even though there are increasing numbers of road users on the road there is no intention to seal any of them’’.
‘‘The only exception to this is, consideration to seal Lilybank Rd and that is due to the high annual maintenance costs,’’ Haar said.
Senior Constable Russell Halkett said the cause of Friday’s crash was still not known and the investigation was continuing.
He confirmed two women and a man in the rental car, all members of the same family and in their 70s, were killed.
The two injured people travelling in the same car – a man and a woman – were roughly in their 40s, he said.
On Monday, Senior Sergeant Anthony Callon said the coroner would likely release the names of Friday’s crash victims today.
A Southern District Health Board spokeswoman confirmed the three Chinese tourists taken to Dunedin Hospital by rescue helicopter on Friday, were stable.
Two people moderately injured in the crash were taken to Timaru Hospital. The South Canterbury District Health Board said the patients had asked for privacy, and no updates on their status could be given.