Tourists in death crash not to blame | Northland News | Local News in Northland

Two Spanish tourists who died on State Highway  1 just days before Christmas were not to blame for the horror crash, a police investigator says.

Joan Roma Serra and his partner, Eva Fajula Rovira, both aged 34, lost their lives in a head-on crash with a truck and trailer 4km north of Towai on December 22.

The crash caused major hold-ups with SH1 closed for several hours between Towai and Kawakawa. A  2-year-old boy in a ute which hit the trailer as it jack-knifed across the highway is recovering and is out of Whangarei Hospital's intensive care unit.

Senior Constable Warren Bunn, of the police Serious Crash Unit, said the investigation was not yet complete but it was clear the Spanish tourists  had not been at fault.

"They were in the wrong place at the wrong time," he said.

The investigation was now focusing on the truck and the road surface.

Since the accident, it had become apparent that many truckies were wary of a  stretch of road near the crash scene, which many had complained about - but not to the roading authorities.

Mr Bunn said he had spoken to local truckies about the road, and would speak again to the driver of the truck and trailer involved in the crash.

He would not comment on the possibility of charges  because his inquiries were continuing. He also had yet to hear the findings of an automotive inspection to see whether the truck had any mechanical faults.

The tourists, who were heading north in a rented campervan, had no way of avoiding the crash because there was a bank on their left and the truck was approaching from the right. They died instantly.

Mr Bunn said he felt for the couple's family and friends in Spain.

People were often quick to assume overseas tourists were at fault when they were involved in road crashes, but it was a "numbers game". With so many tourists on the road in Northland over summer, it was inevitable some would be involved in accidents.

Land Transport New Zealand, which is responsible for state highways, is conducting its own investigation and had imposed a temporary 70km/h speed limit.