Bethlehem resident John Laing is concerned about insufficient space for cars to pull over on a section of State Highway 2. Photo / George Novak
Bethlehem resident John Laing is concerned about insufficient space for cars to pull over on a section of State Highway 2. Photo / George Novak
Bethlehem residents have raised safety concerns about "dangerous" wire rope barriers and insufficient space to pull over on a section of State Highway 2.
However, Waka Kotahi New Zealand Transport Agency says wire rope barriers reduce the numbers of deaths and injuries, and there is space for a vehicle topass another.
The section of SH2 is between the roundabout at Bethlehem and Moffat Rd, and the Waihi on/off ramps.
Bethlehem resident John Laing, 82, said: "This is where all the major accidents are occurring because nobody can get off the road."
He wants wire rope barriers between centre lanes to be replaced with concrete. There also needed to be space for trucks and cars to pull off to the side of the road, he said.
Waka Kotahi maintenance and operations regional manager Rob Campbell said while the space between the guardrail at the edge of the road and the flexible barrier in the centre was narrow, there was room for a truck to pass a broken down vehicle.
Campbell encouraged motorists to ensure they moved their vehicle as far to the side of the road as possible, and for other drivers to slow down when passing any vehicles on the side of the road to ensure the safety of all road users.
Flexible road safety barriers caught vehicles before they hit something harder like a pole, tree or oncoming car. They were installed down the middle of a road to prevent head-on collisions, Campbell said.
"If you hit a flexible barrier, the steel cables flex, slowing down your vehicle and keeping it upright. The barriers absorb the impact of the crash so you and the people with you, don't."
Campbell said flexible barriers were cost-effective and could reduce the number of people killed or seriously injured in crashes by 75 per cent.
Flexible barriers - or wire ropes - can reduce the number of people killed or seriously injured in crashes by 75 per cent, according to the NZ Transport Agency. Photo / George Novak
Owner of Bayride Motorcycles Damian Fleming said he had been to meetings advocating against wire ropes in the past.
Fleming said there was conflicting evidence about whether wire ropes were safe.
"As a motorcyclist ... I stay well away from them."
Waka Kotahi regional manager of infrastructure Jo Wilton said flexible safety barriers were "highly effective" in preventing deaths and injuries for all road users, including motorcyclists.
"Motorcyclists are more likely to survive an impact with a flexible road safety barrier than an impact with a tree, pole or oncoming vehicle, which the barriers may help prevent them from striking in a crash."
A study of the New Zealand motorcycle-barrier crash data from January 2001 to July 2013 showed out of 20 motorcycle fatalities sustained as a result of riders hitting a roadside or median barrier, just three involved flexible safety barriers, Wilton said.
"Thirteen involved traditional steel 'W' beam barriers and four other barrier types."
There were 97 motorcyclist fatalities from collisions with posts or poles, 70 from hitting traffic signs and 93 from crashing into unprotected trees over the same period, Wilton said.
Waka Kotahi did not have any record of complaints or concerns about wire rope barriers on this section of SH2 in the past three years.
There were no recorded deaths on the section of SH2 over that time period.
The agency had recorded 79 crashes and 19 injuries from crashes in this time period.
The data is up-to-date as of June 9, 2021 however, data for 2020 and 2021 was incomplete because the agency was awaiting some traffic crash reports for 2020 from the police.
