Two women remain in hospital, one in a serious condition, three weeks after a vehicle crash at Cromwell which claimed the lives of two of their friends.
Police say despite the fatalities, many motorists are still travelling too fast through the intersection of State Highways 8B and 6, where the accident occurred, and should be more vigilant.
The collision involved a car carrying five people and a courier van with one occupant. The driver of the car, Chin-Yuan Chang (29), of Taiwan, died at the scene, and one of his passengers Ting Ting Mo (25), of China, died in hospital later that night.
The courier van driver, a 25-year-old Cromwell woman, received minor injuries, as did the front-seat passenger in the car, a 24-year-old Chinese man.
Another of the passengers, a 28-year-old Taiwanese woman, remained in hospital in a serious condition, Constable Dean Schroder said yesterday . She had surgery in Christchurch Hospital earlier this week " but she's a long way from being out of the woods yet".
A 24-year-old Chinese woman, also a passenger in the vehicle, was progressing favourably in Dunedin Hospital, Const Schroder said.
All five occupants of the car were working in the area as fruitpickers.
"This was a very serious accident and its effects are ongoing and people are still suffering," he said. The police investigation was continuing.
The speed limit at the two highway approaches to Cromwell was reduced following the accident. Even before the fatal crash, the New Zealand Transport Agency was in the process of cutting the speed limit from 100kmh to 80kmh and that was done within days of the accident.
The 80kmh speed area on the outskirts of the town was extended further past the SH8B and SH6 intersection and extended across Deadman's Point bridge through the intersection of SH8 and SH8B.
"Despite that, people are still travelling too fast through there, especially where the crash happened. It's certainly being policed and we've issued infringement notices, but we're trying to educate people as well, that they need to be vigilant and take more care," Const Schroder said.
Following the accident, New Zealand Transport Agency Central Otago area manager John Jarvis said the intersection was known to have a high crash rate.
