When your car slides into a ditch on the Lindis Pass, who do you call? The answer is no-one, simply because the pass is in the middle of a 57km cellphone ''black hole''. Mark Price reports on the conundrum of a cellphone network designed for profit, rather than road safety.
An Otago road with no cellphone coverage - not that unusual.
But you might expect the Lindis Pass - the second-highest highway in the South Island; the route linking the international tourist ''gateways'' of Queenstown and Christchurch; a road often affected by snow and ice - would be a shoo-in for cellphone coverage.
But it is not, and it seems unlikely it ever will be (technological advances aside).
When motorists head north on SH8 from Tarras, they can chat on a cellphone for about 10 minutes - all the way to the top of Cluden Hill.
Then, as they drop down the other side, their radio reception disappears and moments later so do all the bars on their cellphones.
They have entered a communications black hole they will not emerge from for another 57km - when they can finally see Omarama on the horizon.
In between, they will have traversed a scenic mountain road littered with signs about slippery surfaces, sharp corners, steep descents and high crash rates.
As anywhere, they will have mixed it with campervans, speedsters, dangerous overtakers and big numbers of big rigs.
And, of course, they may well have encountered snow and ice.
Statistics from the New Zealand Transport Agency show three fatal crashes on the Lindis Pass in the past three years and 15 crashes with serious injuries in the past four years.
The agency has signalled its safety concerns by spending $500,000 over the summer widening the road near the summit, putting in new wire-rope safety barriers, improving signage and installing electronic speed warnings.
And, says Central Otago area manager John Jarvis, the agency has given the road a new title - the ''Lindis Pass Alpine Highway'' - so people, particularly tourists, are more aware ''that they are in a remote, alpine area''.
Terry Walsh is one local well aware of that.
He is deputy fire chief of the Omarama Volunteer Fire Brigade and also runs the Mobil garage and towing service.
Each year he is called to the Lindis Pass about 100 times - sometimes two or three times a day. The calls range from vehicle breakdowns to serious injury accidents.
As a member of Omarama's first-response team of firefighters and ambulance staff he can be at the scene of a Lindis Pass crash within half an hour of being called.
A fire truck and an ambulance will be close behind.
And a rescue helicopter will be available at the flick of a radio switch.
But as slick as the emergency response is, nothing happens unless an emergency call is made.
And that is where both New Zealanders and international tourists fresh off the plane are left to their own devices.
In an area such as the Lindis Pass, where cellphones do not work, motorists in trouble must hope, firstly, another motorist turns up at the crash scene quickly and, secondly, that they make good, swift decisions about summoning help.
One means is to knock on the door of Jeanette and Russell Emmerson, at Forest Range Station, on the southern side of the summit.
Jeanette Emmerson says the lack of cellphone coverage is a ''big issue'' for those who live along the Lindis Pass road ''but it's a bigger issue to the people that travel through''.
''The only option is to come and use our phone or to give other members of the travelling public ... a notice to ring someone or do something.
''But the issue is that if there is an accident, by the time anybody gets a message out because of the lack of cellphone coverage, you are usually outside the `golden hour', even if they get a chopper in.''
Terry Walsh makes the same point about how much of the golden hour can be used up as motorists look for a means of calling emergency services - particularly at night when traffic is light.
''Depending on the time of the year and the traffic volume, and obviously it being quieter at night, it could be a while. It really could. And that's a bit of a concern.''
After waiting and hoping for a passing car, a crash victim at the Lindis Pass summit, for instance, has another 15 minutes to wait while someone drives into an area with cellphone coverage, then the 30 minutes for the first emergency services from Omarama to arrive.
The further south from the summit, the longer the wait.
The Lindis Pass is not alone in this regard.
But unlike other Otago roads with black holes, this is a main tourist route with an average of 1500 vehicles crossing it every day. At two people per vehicle, that equates to a travelling community of 3000 people.
Emmerson: ''If there's 3000 people living in a town, there's a neighbour living next door and all the facilities.
''Here there are 3000 people with no facilities other than can be provided by the local residents, if they can find them.''
From a road safety point of view, the Lindis Pass would seem to have a good case for a cellphone service.
But road safety is not what drives the expansion of the cellphone network.
When calculating where to place cellphone towers, Vodafone and Telecom aim for residential customers, rather than mobile ones.
Vodafone spokeswoman Michelle Baguley says it has invested more than $50 million on its South Island network ''to give our customers the best experience with their smartphone wherever they work, live and play''.
However, she says, Vodafone is ''focused on residential settlements''.
That rules out the Lindis Pass, which has fewer than a dozen high country farming families in the 57km of the cellphone black hole.
Telecom says it is ''always looking for opportunities to expand'' but it also is not interested in places which are not commercially viable.
Head of corporate communications Richard Llewellyn says cellphone coverage for primarily safety purposes is ''a challenging issue'' for many countries.
He suggests ''other parties'' aside from Telecom would need to be involved to get cellphone coverage to the Lindis Pass.
''If rural, local or central bodies, or a forum of interested parties, were to express an interest in a partnership ... we would welcome the opportunity to be involved.''
He points to the Government's Rural Broadband Initiative (RBI) which is taking broadband coverage to 86% of New Zealanders living in rural areas.
Janet Bache, the RBI's senior communications adviser of the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment, says that scheme's goal is productivity and economic growth, with priority for schools, hospitals and businesses.
''Essentially, it is not economically viable at this time to deliver full coverage across New Zealand, especially in isolated areas.''
She has no suggestions to make on where to address questions about cellphone coverage for road safety purposes, but points out emergency services and commercial operators on the Lindis Pass have radio contact.
Omarama Constable Nayland Smith attends many of the Lindis Pass crashes and says even radio coverage can be patchy.
''There are some spots through there you just can't get anything.''
He says cellphones ''certainly would'' make a difference to the emergency response time across the Lindis Pass.
''If they crash right in the middle of the Lindis, it's probably a good 20 minutes before they get into an area where they have cellphone coverage.
''That's a 20-minute time delay before they even call us out, and on top of that we have got our response [time] as well.''
''If you put all the time delays on top of that you could miss that whole golden hour.''
At the end of most stories on a problem like this, blame can be laid at the door of a government department or an uncaring corporation, or at least a way forward can be indicated.
But, when it comes to providing cellphone coverage for road safety reasons, responsibility appears not yet to have been assigned - leaving roads like the Lindis Pass [not to mention the Milford road, the Haast Pass, and so on] to fall through the cracks.
To underscore motorists' increasing reliance on cellphones, the new Ford Kuga SUV has a feature which calls emergency services 10 seconds after its airbags are deployed, providing emergency services with the GPS co-ordinates of the crashed vehicle.
That is, unless the crash is in a black hole on one of the South Island's more remote and hazardous mountain roads.
Golden hour
The ''golden hour'' refers to the period of time after traumatic injury during which there is the highest likelihood that prompt medical treatment will prevent death. In practice, this can be minutes or hours.
Source: Wikipedia
A phone survey of views on the desirability of a Lindis cellphone service
Otago Regional Rescue Helicopter operator Graeme Gale says the Lindis is not alone in having poor or non-existent cellphone coverage, although it does have a good radio system for emergency services. He also has a satellite phone.
''So from our point of view, it really doesn't make a lot of difference to us. But we would certainly support better cellphone coverage, for sure.''
He expects technology will solve the problem eventually.
Lake Wanaka Tourism general manager James Helmore accepts cellphone towers through the Lindis would be expensive but says tourists have ''an expectation'' of being able to use their mobile devices.
He suggests roadside emergency phones might be a useful alternative but agrees they would not be ideal ''if you are hanging upside down in your seatbelt in a ditch in the dark''.
''But who should pay for it? Good question. I don't have a formulated answer on that at this stage.''
Omarama garage owner Terry Walsh says cellphones would speed up the emergency response on the Lindis Pass.
''With today's technology, it's amazing that they can't at least have something up there for cellphone coverage.''
Mr Walsh says it is a nice feeling ''when you go up there because people are just so grateful someone's come and helped them''.
''That's what keeps me doing it.''
The New Zealand Transport Agency says it will have contractors on the Lindis Pass ''24/7'' this winter, to keep the road open as much as possible. However, Central Otago area manager John Jarvis says even the agency is affected by the lack of cellphone coverage.
''There is an issue.''
St John communications operations manager Alan Goudge says he understands the commercial imperative of the telecommunications companies.
''Whilst one of the primary motivators would be to see a return on their investment, there are other factors, i.e. providing a service in those areas where, for example, an emergency situation is more likely to occur, that they should factor into their investment plan.
''And that's where I think Lindis would have some weighting.''
Central Otago police area commander Senior Sergeant Ian Kerrisk acknowledges the difficult terrain of the Lindis Pass but says ''of course'' there would be value in having cellphone coverage there.
''We would support any moves ... to get better cellphone coverage in the area because it makes things difficult, especially with a crash.''
Snr Sgt Kerrisk says the lack of coverage can mean people have to drive back and forth between the scene of a crash and an area of cellphone coverage to keep emergency services updated.
And while emergency services had good communications equipment, it was members of the public ''who come across a crash and need to report it''.
''We are hopeful as technology progresses it will sort itself out.''
Asked if she thought it might be no bad thing motorists travelling the Lindis had to work things out for themselves, Forest Range Station co-owner Jeanette Emmerson said she believed many no longer had the skills to do that.
''They just rely on their cellphones ... without cellphone coverage, they are just completely lost.''
Morven Hills Station owner Richard Snow - who lives opposite Forest Range and also provides travelling motorists with emergency phone services at times - was the only person the ODT spoke to who was not in favour of cellphones for the Lindis.
Mr Snow preferred conversations that were not interrupted by a cellphone call and, he pointed out, the Lindis is one of the least likely roads to have an accident caused by a motorist using a cellphone while driving.
