Wānaka Police Senior Sergeant Fiona (Fi) Roberts said police went from celebrating a zero road toll over Labour Weekend to lamenting a serious motor vehicle accident on the Crown Range on Sunday (November 3).

Sunday’s accident left one person dead and three people seriously injured.

It was the third motor vehicle accident on that stretch of road since Labour Weekend, Fi said.

She advised people travelling between Wānaka and Queenstown give themselves an extra half hour to take some of the pressure off.

Last year the Wānaka App made an official information request to the NZ Police and Waka Kotahi NZ Transport Agency asking about the accident and injury rates on the Crown Range, as well as the most common type of accidents there.

The figures from 2000-2023 showed there had been five fatal accidents (and six deaths) on the road, all of them since 2013. The figures showed a total of 460 crashes.

Crash Analysis System (CAS) data received at that time showed the crash contributing factors recorded for crashes identified 910 factors in crashes since 2000. (A crash is normally attributed to multiple contributing factors therefore there will be more factors than crashes.)

The most cited contributing factor was ‘road factors’, at 228. Next was poor handling (172), inappropriate speed (114), and poor judgement (106).

Read more: The Crown Range in numbers: six deaths; 460 accidents, 100kph

In other road policing this past week, two drivers were caught driving without a licence and a 48-year-old male was arrested for driving while disqualified.

There have been five cases of EBA (excess breath/blood alcohol) in the past week, with one at 770mgms/litre and four between 250 to 400mgms/litre.

Fi advised people who are out enjoying a drink to get a ride home, adding that a taxi fare might be less inconvenient than not having a driver’s licence.

In other incidents, a 48-year-old male was arrested for breaching bail. Bail was opposed by police and the man appeared in court on Tuesday (November 5).

Call 111 when you need an emergency response from police, fire or ambulance.

Call 105 to report things that don’t need urgent police assistance.

Call *555 to report road incidents that are urgent but not life-threatening.

To make an anonymous crime report contact Crime Stoppers.

PHOTO: Wānaka App