Wānaka Police have had a busy few weeks, and Senior Sergeant Fiona (Fi) Roberts gave a “special thank you” to local emergency teams who have also responded to various incidents in the area during this period.

One of those incidents was on Friday (February 21) when a rescue helicopter was dispatched to Mt Brewster to assist an injured person on the track.

“The alarm was raised by a second person in the party; sadly by the time the rescue helicopter got to the scene the injured person had succumbed to their injuries,” Fi said.

Accidents, driving complaints, and drink driving have featured in road policing during the past few weeks, she said.

On Saturday (February 22) police were called to a motor vehicle accident north of Makarora where the 78-year-old male driver appeared to have fallen asleep at the wheel. 

Despite there being three passengers, there were no injuries, Fi said

On the same day a 23-year-old man was charged with dangerous driving “as a result of his actions on Cardrona Valley Road”, Fi said.

His vehicle was impounded and he is appearing in Queenstown District Court today (Wednesday February 26).

A day earlier (on Friday February 21) a 22-year-old female was stopped at a checkpoint on Riverbank Road and underwent EBA (excess breath/blood alcohol) procedures, with a result of 784. 

“The driver was observed by police turning abruptly from [a] compulsory breath testing checkpoint,” she said, adding that the driver attempted to avoid apprehension by turning into a driveway and “jumping her vehicle over a culvert”. 

On the same day a 47-year-old male was stopped on Camphill Road and underwent EBA, with a result of 299 micrograms; a 31-year-old male was stopped on Wānaka/Luggate Highway with 475 micrograms; and a 62-year-old male was stopped on Riverbank Road with 344 micrograms. 

The day before (Thursday February 20) a 26-year-old male was stopped on Mt Aspiring Road with 465 micrograms; and on Wednesday (February 19) a 27-year-old male was stopped on West Meadows Drive with 298.

On Tuesday (February 18) police attended a vehicle accident on the Crown Range where the female driver appeared “to have lost control of her vehicle causing her to spin out a couple of times and hit the left barrier, before coming to a stop against the rock bank,” Fi said.

Police are awaiting blood results to establish culpability, she added.

On the same day police were advised of a driver on the Crown Range Road allegedly passing multiple vehicles at speed.

The driver was located and issued with an infringement offence notice.

“Driving complaints continue to be a significant issue in our area,” Fi said. 

Patrols have identified a number of vehicles passing school buses and Fi said she wanted to remind drivers that when you’re passing a school bus that’s stopped to let children on or off, the speed limit is 20km/h.

“This limit applies even if the school bus has stopped on the opposite side of the road to where you are driving,” she said. “It is painfully slow, there is a good reason for this.”

Patrols around Te Kura o Tititea Mount Aspiring College also identified several drivers driving without an appropriate licence. They were issued infringement offence notices.

Otago Lakes Road Policing Manager Sergeant Steve Watt said there had been four fatalities from three crashes on the roading network in as many weeks.

“Early indicators suggest that speed and alcohol were factors in these crashes,” Fi said. 

“People make mistakes but we all have the ability to influence driver behaviour and make a difference. We will continue to beat the deterrence drum, anywhere anytime, high demand times and extensive coverage across our network.”

“Please be safe out on our roads,” she said. “We have an ongoing flux of people coming to Wānaka for events in March and April.”

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