Hinahina Rd is a gravel road leading from Owaka to Jacks Bay and the Catlins river mouth, which Const Hewitson said was catching out tourists who were unfamiliar with driving on gravel.
The first accident on Hinahina Rd occurred on December 14, when a Japanese tourist lost control in the gravel and hit a direction signpost, coming to a stop in a ditch at the side of the road.
Const Hewitson said the second, third and fourth accidents happened on the same corner.
The second, on December 22, involved a Singaporean tourist who "moved over to the left and fell off the road".
Const Hewitson said the third and fourth accidents happened when the drivers "shot across the road", with one of the vehicles hitting an oncoming car.
The third accident, on December 27, involved tourists from Auckland colliding with a car travelling in the opposite direction.
"If [the car from Oamaru] hadn't collected the van, [the van] would have been upside down in the estuary."
The fourth accident, on December 31, was a single-car, single-occupant accident, which ended up in the estuary.
Const Hewitson said all vehicles were travelling west, towards Owaka.
Not all the accidents that occurred on Hinahina Rd were formally reported, he said.
"Some people are getting towed out by tractors . . .
"I just hear about it through the grapevine."
It was impossible to educate tourists about the dangers of driving on gravel roads, he said.
Most of them were day-trippers, trying to pack all of the Catlins into as short a time as possible.
Const Hewitson would like to see an advisory sign on the corner, or the tarsealing of that stretch of the road.
