A Wellington truck driver who skidded off the road on Te Aute Hill this week has slammed NZTA for failing to take immediate action after a similar accident there more than a month ago.
Brian Norris was upset and angry to discover NZTA had arranged for the road to be waterblasted to remove a slippery top layer of tar after the first incident but work was not scheduled to begin until today.
After his accident on Monday, the date for waterblasting was brought forward, "slippery when wet" warning signs erected and speeds temporarily reduced to 50km/h in the area.
But for Mr Norris, it was too little too late.
"They were aware it was a bad bit of road that needed attention," he told Hawke's Bay Today from Wellington.
"The million dollar question is, if they identified work needed to be done why didn't they at least put up a sign to warn people straight away?"
Mr Norris was driving from Wellington to Hastings, transporting three cars on a trailer, when he got into trouble heading downhill about 8.22am.
His trailer swung out and the truck crossed onto the right side of the road where it hit a bank, flipping around and coming to a halt in a roadside ditch, facing uphill.
"They are really, really lucky no one was hurt, that's all it was, luck."
After two near misses on the same stretch of road, Mr Norris was keen to see some drastic, permanent action taken to improve driver safety on Te Aute Hill.
"Are people going to start dying before it is taken seriously? Because they are up for fatalities.
"If there are sections of road like that surely they should take the speed limit down to 50km/h. As a truck driver the minute I see 50km/h I slow down, you would be an idiot not to."
NZTA acting regional state highways manager Gordon Hart said a decision to waterblast the road on Te Aute Hill was made as a safety precaution after the first crash, which at the time was an isolated event.
"It is unfortunate that a second crash occurred before the arrival of specialised equipment required to treat the site," he said.
Following the second crash warning signage was added as a further precaution to keep motorists safe.
"We don't make decisions to install warning signs lightly because otherwise motorists can get complacent when they encounter them."
It was not yet clear if the accidents were linked, but there was no evidence to suggest excessive speed was a factor at this stage, Mr Hart said.
Investigations would continue to determine the cause of both accidents.
Dropping the speed limit is something they would approach with caution.
"Lowering the speed limit may seem like an obvious solution, but it's not always the most effective solution.
"This is because if speed isn't causing these crashes, then it's questionable as to whether reducing the speed limit would actually reduce crashes."
A fresh road surface for Te Aute Hill was planned for the next annual maintenance period.