Tourist killed on first day of motorbike trip

A tourist was killed on the first day of a two-week motorcycle tour of New Zealand after colliding with a car in Christchurch.

The woman was one of a group of German visitors who picked up their rental motorbikes from Te Waipounamu Motorcycle Tours in Christchurch on Wednesday morning.

The plan was to tour New Zea- land and end their trip in Auckland on January 17.

But at 5pm on Wednesday the woman collided with a car and was killed on Dyers Pass Rd in the Port Hills.

The car rolled over in the crash and the driver was seriously injured and taken to Christchurch Hospital.

Te Waipounamu Motorcycle Tours owner John Rains said the death was upsetting.

‘‘Motorcyclists are a brother- hood in a way. We have all had close shaves so we know how they feel.

‘‘It is a very tragic accident . . . We helped them set off yesterday and everyone was in a good mood. It is pretty upsetting.

‘‘[The group] come quite regularly. We are familiar with them.’’

Rains said Te Waipounamu did not organise the tour, but only rented the motorcycles. Some members of the group would carry on, he said.

‘‘I believe they will continue with their trip. Some have stayed behind to support their friends.‘‘

A police spokeswoman said investigators were still looking into the cause of the crash.

It is the first road fatality since the end of the official holiday period, during which 12 people were killed, and the first fatal crash in Canterbury for 2018.

There were 55 deaths on Canterbury roads in 2017 and 380 deaths nationally.