Three speeders clock 160km/h near Hokitika

At times during a 7km pursuit along the straight, a blue Subaru exceeded 180km/h. Photo / File

Police say it is pure luck no one was killed south of Hokitika over weekend after three motorists were caught speeding in separate incidents of more than 160km/h.

As police attempted to stop one of the vehicles during a 7km chase, speeds of over 180km/h were reached.

Senior constable Jason Martin, of Hokitika police, said in the first incident a 28-year-old German tourist was arrested and taken into custody after the rental car he was driving was clocked doing 171km/h on the Mahinapua straight on State highway 6, just south of Hokitika, at 8.30pm on Saturday.

It turned out the man was driving without a licence and his front seat passenger held the rental agreement for the vehicle in which they were travelling.

"He didn't hold any form of driver's licence," Mr Martin said.

Surprisingly, the rental company "was happy" to continue the rental agreement as long as as the person who had originally signed the contract was behind the wheel, Mr Martin said.

However, their travels have been delayed as the illegal driver was bailed to appear in the Greymouth District Court tomorrow for dangerous driving.

Just over three hours later, police were back on the Mahinapua straight in pursuit of a Subaru car with a 17-year-old driver at the wheel.

Mr Martin said the vehicle "fled" from police after the driver was asked to stop for a routine speed check shortly after midnight.

At times during a 7km pursuit along the straight, the blue Subaru exceeded 180km/h and the driver turned the lights off to try to avoid detection.

The car finally pulled over past the Lake Mahinapua Hotel and the driver, a new arrival to Hokitika, was arrested.

What made the incident worse was that five other occupants were in the car -- all aged 17 or younger -- and the consequences of the car losing control at that speed could have been tragic, Mr Martin said.

The car and its keys were returned to an adult caregiver in Hokitika.

The boy driver was charged with failing to stop and dangerous driving. He will appear in court this week.

Later that morning a 28-year-old Indian tourist was clocked at 163km/h in the same area. He received an immediate 28 day suspension of his licence.

Just 10 days ago, another tourist, an English driver, was caught doing 178km/h on the Mahinapua straight, giving the excuse that he was trying to get his elderly father to the toilet.

Meanwhile, late on Friday afternoon an overseas national living and working at Franz Josef Glacier lost control of their vehicle at Pukekura as they were returning from Greymouth.

Police were still investigating what caused the accident, in which the vehicle with two other occupants went down a bank.

Two of the car passengers were flown to hospital aboard the NZCC Rescue Helicopter after first-aid from the Hari Hari Volunteer Fire Brigade and St John ambulance staff.

- Greymouth Star