Constant crashes spark safety concerns

Regular accidents at a Kumeu intersection have become a concern for residents, with two crashes occurring in one recent week alone.

The intersection at Old North Rd and Old Railway Rd has become prone to accidents, with road users failing to stop at the stop sign on Old Railway Road.

An Old North Rd resident recently wrote on Facebook of a crash he witnessed, when a van landed in his driveway.

“I was convinced this time someone would be injured, but again everyone was very lucky, no injuries to speak of,” he said.

“We can only be this fortunate for so long, something needs to change before we are scraping more than vehicle debris off the road.”

Real estate agent Maria Santayana was involved in a car crash at the intersection in October last year, where she hit the back of a tow truck which failed to stop.

Both vehicles were written off. Mrs Santayana stayed in hospital for the afternoon, and the tow truck driver was hospitalised overnight.

The crash left a lasting impact on her, Mrs Santayana said.

“I won’t let my daughter drive on that stretch.

“I don’t want to be scraping my daughter off the road because somebody is in too much of a rush and can’t be bothered stopping,” she said.

“It is pretty scary and everyone gets angry, but the thing is this intersection doesn’t have drunk drivers, it isn’t people speeding, it’s careless people.

A Kumeu local who didn’t want to be named said there had been approximately four accidents in six weeks.

However, they don’t believe suggestions like a roundabout will do anything to solve the problem.

“The accidents are always caused by people not stopping, as opposed to it actually being a dangerous intersection.

“A sharp high judder bar before the sign to make the traffic stop at the stop sign would be efficient enough,” they said.

“Something needs to be done to alert them to the fact that they need to stop, as opposed to penalising all the Old North Rd traffic who are on high alert each time they pass that intersection.”

Auckland Transport (AT) spokesperson Mark Hannan said via email that in recent years there had a been number of collisions at the intersection with one person receiving serious injuries.

Mr Hannan said AT had put various measures in place to prevent drivers colliding with vehicles on Old North Rd.

“Last year we put in additional signs and road markings to try to improve safety,” he said.

“We are looking at further measures, including installing vehicle activated LED road signs, which will warn approaching drivers of the intersection ahead.”