Warning after another crash in Queenstown

Police are urging road users to drive to the conditions and take breaks if needed. Photo: ODT files
Police are urging road users to drive to the conditions and take breaks if needed. Photo: ODT files

A second head-on crash in two days has sparked a warning from Queenstown police.

One person was taken to Lakes District Hospital with concussion following a crash on Peninsula Rd at 9.55pm yesterday.

Sergeant Simon Matheson, of Queenstown, said one of the cars was on the wrong side of the road.

Both were driven by foreign nationals.

It follows a head-on collision near the new Kawarau Falls bridge on Wednesday night.

A 7-year-old girl was flown to Dunedin Hospital, where she remained in a "serious but stable'' condition as of yesterday afternoon.

Sgt Matheson said she was likely to remain in hospital for two or three days.

The teenage driver of the other car was taken to Southland Hospital in Invercargill.

"We really want drivers to drive to their ability and the conditions,'' Sgt Matheson said.

"If they're feeling tired they should swap drivers or take a rest.''

Yesterday's crash occurred in a 50kmh area, which likely reduced its seriousness, he said.

The latest crash also follows concerns from a Jacks Point woman about poor night-time visibility on and near the new Kawarau Falls bridge.

On Wednesday night, her husband and son were first on the scene of the 9.20pm crash, which occurred a few metres from the bridge's southern end.

The woman, who does not want to be named, emailed a senior manager at the New Zealand Transport Agency  on June 19 urging the agency to install reflective markers, or "cats-eyes", and overhead lighting on the bridge and its southern approach.

The sweeping  $22 million bridge, on State Highway 6 between Frankton and the Kelvin Peninsula, opened in May last year. 

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