A tourist allegedly driving on the wrong side of the road was lucky to walk away from a head-on collision near Te Anau yesterday morning.
The 73-year-old American was driving on the Manapouri-Te Anau Highway at 10.15am when he realised he was heading in the wrong direction and pulled to the side of the road in his rental vehicle to turn around.
He then rejoined the road and drove towards Te Anau, on the right-hand side of the road. He was approaching a bend when his car collided with another vehicle containing two German tourists travelling in the opposite direction on the correct side of the road Although the 30-year-old German male driver and his female passenger escaped the crash without injury, the American was taken to the Te Anau Medical Centre by ambulance with minor injuries.
Senior Constable Heather Wyllie, of Te Anau, said he was ''very, very lucky'' to receive only minor injuries. He was likely to be charged with careless driving.
