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Drivers not roads blamed for crashes BY TOM DOUDNEY
Bad driving rather than bad intersections, are behind the increasing number of crashes on Main South Rd, Selwyn’s top cop says. Senior Sergeant Pete Stills said he believed people were getting frustrated with the fact that the road was becoming busier and failing to adjust their expectations as traffic flows increased. This could mean drivers trying to pull out into tight gaps or failing to look carefully instead
of showing patience. “It’s quite frustrating because a lot of motorists are blaming the road but it’s not the road, it’s the drivers,” he said. “It’s carrying a big volume of traffic and it had increased markedly in recent years and lots of people haven’t adjusted their driving behaviour.” About 20,000 vehicles a day use the road. Senior Sergeant Stills said the intersection of Main South Rd and Weedons Ross Rd was not espe-
cially dangerous, in spite of a run of crashes there. Last week there were two serious crashes there in the space of 24 hours. The first crash, at 8.30pm on Wednesday, resulted in two people being hospitalised. Three people were injured, two seriously, after the second crash, at 6.10pm on Thursday. A New Zealand Transport Agency spokeswoman said that for the five years from 2010 to 2014 there were one fatal and one serious in-
jury crash within a 100m radius of the intersection. In May Selwyn District Councillor Peter Hill said the intersections along Main South Rd and Jones Rd which runs parallel were too complicated and something needed to be done. Meanwhile, the district council has admitted that a Rolleston intersection expected to get 200 per cent busier over the next 10 years is already not coping with present levels of traffic. •Turn to page 2
Taking fitness to the extreme – p4, p5
Super work Soldiers of Selwyn – p8, p9
Rachael Rains, 4, shows off her artwork at Leeston SuperValue. The supermarket chain made a variety of resources, including posters and pictures for colouring in, available to celebrate Maori Language Week. Customers could submit photos of them using the resources to win prizes. •More photos, p3 PHOTO: GEOFF SLOAN
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