A council in North Otago is calling on the New Zealand Transport Agency (NZTA) to urgently upgrade the safety of a deadly stretch of State Highway 1.
Five people have died in the past two years within a few kilometres of Moeraki. Photo: RNZ / Alexander Robertson
A 39-year-old Chinese woman, who the police are calling Miss Li, died in a three-car crash at the turn-off to the popular Moeraki boulders tourist site last week.
She was the fifth person to die in the past two years within a few kilometres of Moeraki.
Most of the crashes involved tourists but the area has not been included in NZTA's tourist driver upgrade programme.
Waitaki district mayor Gary Kircher said that was unacceptable.
"The number of deaths now are just adding up. We really need NZTA to address the problem, to actually put some solutions into place that are going to properly address the situation, and make sure that everything that can be done being done."
The council was writing to NZTA to formally request action, he said.