Fifteen people were taken to hospital after two bus crashes within a stone's throw of each other, in Canterbury, on 18 July. Photo: Supplied / Grace Duggin
The Transport Agency says it is too early to tell whether the icy Mackenzie District highway where two buses rolled should have been closed earlier.
Fifteen people were taken to hospital, two in a serious condition, after the buses carrying international tourists crashed near each other on State Highway 8 on Thursday morning.
Travellers and locals described the conditions as treacherous, with black ice and low visibility.
Lakestone Lodge co-owner Mike Bacchus said crashes were sadly common in the area
He is a firefighter, and said they had been to six crashes on icy roads in the past two weeks, including two head on collisions.
"It was quite overwhelming knowing that you're going to a bus roll-over. Luckily it wasn't too bad," he said.
There have been injuries, but no fatalities.
"We were just extremely lucky to get away without anything worse."
There was no one solution to fix the roads when the conditions were poor, but variable speed signs could help, he said.
"People do seem to heed speed signs, and the problem is if you've got a 100 kilometre an hour speed limit, some people are hell bent on driving at 100 kilometres an hour no matter what the conditions."
But sometimes, he said, the road just needed to be closed.
"That also has flow on effects. But in saying that, the roads get closed from accidents anyway.
"So if they'd been preventatively closed, those accidents would have been avoided."
Caroline Perry, the director of road safety charity BRAKE, said treacherous winter driving could catch people out.
"Our roads haven't been built to drive at those higher speed limits safely. We don't have the safety features on a lot of our roads that enable them to operate at higher speeds as well," Perry said.
"In winter, it's really important to realise that the speed limit for the road would be a maximum speed in really good conditions."
Improving road infrastructure and educating people about winter driving would also help, Perry said.
"We need to continue looking at is there enough signage? Are there enough warnings that are available when we have things like ice and snow and potential road closures ... to ensure that people who are visiting as well as those who are local are aware of what the risks are and how driving conditions may change," she said.
The Transport Agency Waka Kotahi (NZTA) has been warning about icy conditions in the area since Wednesday morning.
NZTA transport services general manager Brett Gliddon said they were not jumping to conclusions about the crashes.
"We'll do a full investigation alongside the police to work out what the contributing factors were, and if it sees that we need to make some changes to operational procedures, we will," he said.
"It's too early to say if the road needed to be closed prior to those accidents."
Minister of Transport Simeon Brown said he had been briefed about the crashes.
"I've asked for further information in relation to the information that NZTA had in terms of the condition of that road and what information they were providing to motorists using that piece of road, particularly with the black ice," Brown said.
With winter far from over, BRAKE encouraged motorists to drive to the conditions, increase following distances, and be extra vigilant for hazards.