Allen said the Serious Crash Unit was conducting a scene examination and inquiries into the circumstances of the crash were ongoing. The road remains closed, and motorists are advised to take an alternate route.
The distressed owner of the cycle hire business the visitors rented the quadricycle from told the Herald he was beside himself after hearing of the crash, and had tried to visit the scene to check on the injured group.
The vehicle’s driver was uninjured and speaking with police.
The crash was on a long stretch of wineries and vineyards, popular with cyclists.
Indi Bike owner Wayde Mines said the group hired the cycle about 10am. The crash was less than an hour later.
He said it was the first time in 10 years of operating that a hire bike had been in an accident.
“It’s incredibly upsetting.”
The bikes “go out all the time without incident” and the quadricycle in question was brightly-coloured and easy to see.
He said the group were middle-aged, believed to be from the UK, and seemed “chilled out”.
“They were just minding their own business, cruising down the road.”
He had suggested a route that did not include Puruatanga Rd, he said.
The crash cause is being investigated.
Mines said he wanted to see more signage warning drivers to watch for cyclists.
“There’s some people that drive around Martinborough with their eyes closed.
“I’m incredibly concerned about what’s happened and incredibly concerned about the people.
“I went down to the scene to try and figure out what’s happening but [emergency services] wouldn’t let me in.
“I’m totally shocked that it’s happened on a Thursday, midweek on a beautiful, sunny day.”
Resident Phil McArthur was one of the first on the scene and described it as “shocking”.
“I was just heading down the road ... and then I saw a scene where there were four people lying on the side of the road, with a pretty written-off bike,” he said.
“There was about five or six people that got there before me, and basically we had to give first aid to a couple of, you know, pretty serious injuries, which was not very nice.”
The people seemed “severely concussed” and had “injuries you’d expect if a car hit a bike at a reasonable speed”.
A Moy Hall Vineyard employee told Stuff he believed the car had rear-ended the quadricycle, and that the cycle might have been in a shadowy spot at the time.
South Wairarapa Mayor Martin Connelly said Puruatanga Rd was frequently used by bicycle and quadricycles.
“To the best of my knowledge this is the first time I’ve heard of any mishap like this,” he said.
“This is very, very unfortunate and certainly our hearts go out to the people who are hurt, injured and in hospital. I guess really all we can do now is to wait for the police to work out what they think happened and or what went wrong.”
A local businesswoman did not see the crash but witnessed “a lot of ambulances”.
“I’m sorry to hear it’s cyclists,” she said, noting she had lived on the road for many years and this type of crash was a first.
The Serious Crash Unit has been notified and the road is closed for some time.
The public is advised to avoid the area.
