A Taiwanese tourist responsible for a crash in the Kawarau Gorge on Sunday has been ordered to pay $8400 reparation.
Ying-Ting Cheng, 34, admitted a charge of careless driving causing injury when he appeared in the Queenstown District Court yesterday.
Police say Cheng was driving a Toyota Prado with three passengers on State Highway 6 towards Queenstown when he crossed the centre line about noon and collided head-on with a ute with four occupants.
Both vehicles were extensively damaged in the crash, which occurred near the Roaring Meg lookout between Gibbston and Cromwell.
A female passenger in the ute was flown to Dunedin Hospital with multiple injuries, including fractures.
Cheng was sentenced by Judge Catriona Doyle, who heard he was in New Zealand on a two-week holiday and returning to Taiwan on Saturday.
She convicted the defendant and ordered him to pay reparation of $8400, including $2000 for emotional harm.
He is disqualified from driving for six months.
