An American tourist broke his wrist yesterday during a two-car collision on West Wanaka Rd.
The man (77) was a passenger in a rental vehicle being driven by another man, also from the US. Three people in the other car were not hurt.
The injured man was taken to Dunedin Hospital by ambulance.
Senior Constable Ian Henderson said it appeared the driver of the rental vehicle was not used to driving on the left and had instinctively pulled over to the right on the narrow shingle road.
It was too early to say if charges would be laid.
Air bags were activated during the collision and both vehicles received minor damage.
• Police yesterday were investigating the reported theft of $1000 worth of music CDs from a campervan parked near Makarora on State Highway 6 between Wanaka and Haast yesterday.
Senior Sergeant Allan Grindell said there had been a spate of thefts in car parks and laybys along the tourist route in recent weeks, with windows being broken to gain access to belongings left lying in view of people outside the car.
Among the items targeted by the thieves were cameras, iPods and cellphones.
Snr Sgt Grindell said the "cheeky" thefts were occurring about twice a week and within a short period of time, often in the middle of the day or early afternoon, as tourists stopped to do short walks at the Blue Pools, Cameron's Flat or in the Gillespie Pass area.
"We have some further avenues of inquiry to make as a result of today's report," he said.
