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Thursday, January 4, 2018
S un day 18 M
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Hundreds drive through intersection’s red lights in one day
SO CLOSE: Bernie Smith about to throw what could have been a match-winning dart as English opponent Justin Pipe bursts into a cough during their first round match at the world championship in London.
Cough-gate: ‘Pretty crazy’ By Gordon Findlater BERNIE SMITH is hoping the recently-completed world darts championship isn’t his only appearance on the sport’s biggest stage. However, if it is, he will always be remembered for being part of a great piece of sporting controversy. Smith was a part of what has been labelled ‘cough-gate’ when he was knocked out in the first round of the world championship by England’s Justin Pipe. Pipe, the world No 27, became the ultimate villain at the tournament after he was seen
coughing behind Smith as the 53-year-old from Christchurch attempted to throw a dart for double 10 which would have won him the match.
Within 24 hours of the incident, the footage of Pipe’s cough was making headlines around the world after Sky Sport UK commentator and
former pro, Wayne Mardle, pointed out the cough during coverage the following day. “That was a tactic for advantage, that was a tactic to make Bernie Smith miss and he got his way,” said Mardle. “The DRA (Darts Regulation Authority) have to do something . . . that was disgusting.” Smith, who is a plasterer, arrived home on Christmas Day and is currently spending time with family at his holiday home in Hanmer Springs. After having some time to wind down from darts’ biggest stage, he was still downplaying the ‘coughgate’ saga. •Turn to page 7
By Bridget Rutherford THE CITY’S worst intersection for red light-running saw more than 600 motorists do just that in one day alone. Data provided to The Star showed the worst was Moorhouse Ave and Colombo St, where 666 motorists ran red lights. Most of them were approaching the intersection from the east along Moorhouse Ave. No 2 on the list was Chalmers St, Goulding Ave and Main South Rd, where 596 vehicles were detected running reds. Main North and Johns Rds was the third worst. At the city’s 15 worst intersections, 7224 motorists were detected running red lights. That jumped from 6580 last year, and 5000 in 2015. The figures come as the Christchurch Transport Operations Centre is undertaking a project to test how bad red light-running is across the city to come up with ways to curb the problem. Changes could include altering the amber traffic signal and the “all-red phase” – where every signal was red at the same time at an intersection – by up to 1sec. The list was collated by the CTOC over 24 hours on November 30. Canterbury road policing manager Senior Sergeant Kelly Larsen said running amber and red lights was “high-risk behaviour.” •Turn to page 3