She died in her rental car at the scene, while the ute driver was uninjured.
In findings released earlier this year and republished in the latest Coroners Court Recommendations Recap, Coroner Robin Kay found Epprecht Bucchieri’s death was preventable and recommended “Keep Left” stickers in all rental vehicles.
But the Ministry of Transport said it was not considering mandating such stickers.
According to the findings, Epprecht Bucchieri arrived in New Zealand on October 24, 2023, and spent several days travelling with friends in the Taupō area before hiring a Mitsubishi Mirage on the morning of November 1.
Because motorists in Switzerland drive on the right-hand side of the road, a friend accompanied her on a short drive in Taupō the day before to help familiarise her with driving on the left.
She had also completed a solo drive into town before picking up the car.
When collecting it, she told rental company staff that she intended to travel to New Plymouth and later to Hastings.
Soon after 5pm on November 1, she stopped near a stranded motorist south of Tongapōrutu and asked for directions to the Three Sisters rock formations.
The motorist told her she had driven too far south and needed to head back north.
As she turned her car around, he noticed she came within about half a metre of roadside ditches on either side of the road, the findings stated.
When Epprecht Bucchieri drove away, she travelled north in the southbound lane.
The motorist yelled, waved his arms and whistled in an effort to alert her, then watched as the car continued along the wrong side of the road for an estimated 500m before disappearing around a bend.
Less than 30 seconds later, he heard what he described as “an almighty bang … like a bomb going off”.
It was the collision between the rental car and a Holden Colorado ute travelling south.
The investigation and coronial inquiry
The ute driver later told police that the rental car crossed the centre line into his path.
A roadside barrier prevented him from swerving left, so he steered right in an unsuccessful attempt to avoid the crash.
A police crash investigation found neither vehicle had mechanical faults and confirmed that weather and road conditions were not contributing factors. Speed was not a factor either.
Steering data from the rental car showed Epprecht Bucchieri appeared to be following the curve of the road while in the wrong lane.
Swiss tourist Helen Anita Epprecht Bucchieri was holidaying in New Zealand when she crashed her rental car and died.
Moments before impact, she made increasingly sharp steering adjustments, which investigators believed probably reflected her realisation that she was on the wrong side of the road.
Coroner Kay concluded the crash was caused by Epprecht Bucchieri driving on the wrong side of the highway.
“There is no evidence of wrongdoing on the part of the ute driver,” he said.
The coroner also found no evidence that Epprecht Bucchieri had intentionally driven on the wrong side of the road.
He accepted that overseas drivers faced unique challenges when adapting to New Zealand roads, and noted that investigators had calculated the two vehicles would have had less than three seconds’ visibility of one another before impact.
In considering whether the death could have been prevented, he focused on the absence of any “Keep Left” reminders inside the rental car.
A rental company staff member told police she could not recall whether the car contained any road rules pamphlets, but confirmed there were no stickers or signs reminding drivers to keep left.
“It is my view that a highly visible warning in the car, to drive on the left-hand side of the highway, may have prevented Mrs Epprecht Bucchieri’s death,” the coroner said.
He recommended that all rental vehicles be fitted with clearly visible, easily understood and difficult-to-remove “Keep Left” stickers, with rental companies required to check and record their presence before a vehicle was hired out.
He also recommended that the Ministry of Transport make those requirements mandatory.
The Rental Vehicle Association supported the proposed recommendations and said it already provided operators with “Keep Left” stickers.
However, the Ministry of Transport, while supporting the use of safety messaging, said it was not currently considering mandating stickers and that any rule change would require consultation with relevant agencies and groups, and a cost-benefit analysis.
It also noted that not all overseas drivers involved in crashes were at fault, and that only a minority crashed because they failed to adapt to New Zealand driving conditions.
In 2024, 18 of New Zealand’s 292 road deaths involved overseas drivers, but only two involved drivers who had failed to adjust to local driving conditions.
Coroner Kay acknowledged the challenges of reducing road deaths and accepted that government resources were finite, with road safety efforts generally focused on the most common causes of fatal crashes.
However, he said coroners were concerned with preventing future deaths in similar circumstances and that recommendations did not need to target a large number of deaths to be justified.
He maintained that ensuring rental vehicles carried appropriate “Keep Left” stickers could help prevent further deaths involving overseas drivers.
Tara Shaskey is an assistant editor and reporter for the Open Justice team. She joined NZME in 2022 and has worked as a journalist since 2014.
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