With no wheels, this roadside feature spotted near Bay View could be challenging to tow. Photo / Warren Buckland
With no wheels, this roadside feature spotted near Bay View could be challenging to tow. Photo / Warren Buckland
Roadside litter has always been a smear on parts of the Hawke's Bay landscape, but some chunks of litter are slightly bigger than others.
And they've been drawing attention recently, with one person posting on social media that there's no place for "heavy metal sculptures" in the region.
It hasbeen a long-running issue.
One truckie - who does not want to be named - who drives our state highways regularly has derided the wrecks as distractions that are potential safety hazards.
The New Zealand Transport Agency is very much aware of it, regional transport systems manager Oliver Postings said.
While the seemingly abandoned damaged cars were clearly an eyesore the agency had to follow the correct removal processes for vehicles left beside state highways, he said.
With no wheels, this roadside feature spotted near Bay View could be challenging to tow. Photo / Warren Buckland
"For any vehicle parked in an unsafe position we will relocate it somewhere safe," he said.
Postings said the first step in the process was to make contact with the registered owner and request they remove the vehicle.
"They are generally given seven days to advise what action they intend to take, and will remove the vehicle at their or their insurance company's cost."
He said if the registered owner could not be located the agency, through their contractors, would step in and remove the vehicle and store it until it could be legally disposed of.
"There is a formal public notification period that is required to allow vehicles to be claimed."
Postings said if the vehicle remained unclaimed it would be sold and the proceeds used to cover the costs of removal.
"Our crews actively drive through the state highway network and will access any hazards they may come across.
Vehicles which were deemed a potential environmental risk often led to quick calls to the Hawke's Bay Regional Council, usually through their Pollution Hotline (0800 108 838).
It is the council's policy to quickly head out and collect an abandoned vehicle if it is near a waterway.
On urban roads, if a complaint about a vehicle is made it is assessed by council officers as to whether it is a safety risk.
Councils often work in with police in tracking down the owners who, if requested to remove it, have seven days to do so.
If it is not moved in that time council crews will tow it to the tow yard, with the costs involved recouped from the owner.
Some removals can clearly be more challenging that others.
Like a roadside wreck near Bay View, one part of a serious crash over the weekend, which was sitting on a mound of rock and soil debris — its wheels now missing.
Another spotted in heavy roadside shrubbery off Kahuranaki Rd, after a crash there last weekend, does not appear so challenging.
