Speeding tourists reported to police before fatal crash
Two American tourists killed in a crash near Queenstown, were speeding so fast prior to the crash that one road user reported their vehicle to police.
Spencer Jason Hom Dow and Felix Chee Yin Lai, both aged 23 and from Boston, were overtaking a truck on yellow lines south of Kingston on SH6 on November 1, 2018 when they hit an oncoming bus.
Dow, the passenger, died at the scene and Lai died in Dunedin Hospital two days later.
In her findings, Coroner Heather McKenzie said cannabis was found in Lai’s system.
The 100km stretch of road had been the scene of another death two weeks earlier and 209 crashes in the six years prior.
The men arrived in Queenstown on October 30 and rented a Ford Focus. Both men were authorised to drive the car.
The next day they travelled to Te Anau where their vehicle was seen near Mossburn by John Hay, who noticed it weaving in and out of traffic and overtaking on yellow lines behind him.
It then overtook him on double-yellow lines or a blind corner while Hay was travelling about 100kmh. Hay had to brake hard to avoid a head-on collision and called *555 to inform police.
Lai and Dow spent that day sightseeing and left Te Anau to return to Queenstown early on November 1.
Several drivers noticed the car, including Mathew Coffey who thought the car was travelling at double his speed of 100kmh when it overtook him, the coroner’s report said.
Motorist Simon Cade overtook a truck just north of Athol and noticed the Ford overtake the truck and his vehicle immediately afterwards. He estimated the car was travelling at 140kmh.
Cade saw the Ford catch up to a truck and pull out to start passing it. He noted a dip in the road in front of the truck, and thought the driver would not be able to see what was in front of him.
The truck was driven by Bruce Moffatt and as he approached the top of the dip, Moffatt noticed a bus travelling towards him, and then he noticed the Ford Focus overtake his truck.
He then saw the vehicles collide. Bus driver Dong Lim said there was nothing he could do to avoid the collision as there was a ditch on the left of the road and a truck on the right. Eight of his 14 passengers were injured.
Coroner McKenzie said the primary cause of the crash was Lai overtaking in a marked nopassing area with reduced forward visibility when it was not legal, safe or clear to do so. Excessive speed may have been a contributing factor, but there was no evidence of the exact speed.