Five teenagers died when the overloaded car they were in crashed into a power pole and split in two at the intersection of Seadown and Meadows Rds in Washdyke, near Timaru, on Saturday.
They were Javarney Wayne Drummond (15), Andrew George Goodger (15), Niko William Hill (15), Joseff Alan James McCarthy (16) and Jack Graeme Wallace (16), all of Timaru.
Only the driver, 19-year-old Tyreese Fleming, who was on a restricted licence, survived.
Aoraki area commander Inspector Dave Gaskin said police were still investigating what happened. Very little could be gleaned from the car itself because it was extensively damaged.
"I would expect it was travelling in excess of the speed limit.
"The car was split in half by the pole and the part the driver was sitting in, the front quarter of the car, was 38m or 40m up the road from the pole."
The tragedy has rocked the community. The Ministry of Education brought in trauma specialists from Christchurch to support pupils who knew those killed.
A message is now circulating urging people to attend a car event in memory of the boys on Friday.
They are being encouraged to "bring their loudest cars" to show how much the boys will be missed.
Timaru Boys’ High School rector Dave Thorp urged pupils not to attend.
He asked parents to discourage their sons, citing serious safety concerns.
Insp Gaskin said it was understandable the community wanted to farewell the boys but asked that commemorations be safe and within the law.
He said he felt for parents trying to teach their children how dangerous it could be behind the wheel.
"It’s very difficult to stop people doing silly things when they want to do silly things," he said.
"You’ve got to teach them early in their lives and hopefully they understand when they get older."
Insp Gaskin said police had yet to speak to Mr Fleming.
