The driver of this car said her tyres were so coated in debris it kept flying off for several kilometres (left). Right: Two days later the tyres were still coated in tar despite a lot of driving and a car wash. Inset: The bonnet has multiple paint chips from flying stones.
The driver of this car said her tyres were so coated in debris it kept flying off for several kilometres (left). Right: Two days later the tyres were still coated in tar despite a lot of driving and a car wash. Inset: The bonnet has multiple paint chips from flying stones.
A tyre specialist says the damage caused to dozens of cars from driving through roadworks in Napier is the worst he has ever seen, and there is “no solution” for drivers who were caught in it.
By 3pm on Monday, Napier City Council had received 35 service requests from driverswho had travelled through the works on Meeanee Rd on Sunday.
Those caught in it have described loose tar and chipseal piling on to their tyres, slowing their cars to an almost undriveable speed, as stones slowly shaking loose from other cars began to chip at their paintwork and windscreens.
One reported receiving eight windscreen chips in one go.
Napier City Council said heat and heavy traffic were to blame for the chipsealing issue – saying there were “larger than expected traffic volumes along Meeanee Rd and higher than expected temperatures on the day of construction”.
To prevent it from happening again, council would do a review on reducing traffic throughput on the seals during construction, and consider other events in the surrounding area – a speedway event went ahead at Meeanee over the weekend.
A tyre of a car after travelling through roadworks at Meeanee.
Arnie Lal from The Tyre Shop in Napier said the photos he had seen on social media of damaged cars were the worst he’d seen.
“You can’t get that off tyres. I have no solution,” Lal said.
“There is a product that you can use on your car to get spots of tar seal off paintwork but to try and get it into every nook and cranny on a tyre would be a huge job. And I have no idea what effect soaking the tyre in it would be on the rubber.”
A council spokesperson said while it had insurance for this type of incident, impacted drivers should speak to their own insurance in the first instance.
Hawke’s Bay resident Natalya said she contacted customer service at NCC around 10.40am on Sunday, after driving through the roadworks.
“I turned on to one of the side roads as my car was going really slow, about 20km/h,” Natalya said.
“It was frightening as I was not sure what was going on until I parked and looked at the car. I’ve never seen anything like it.”
She called her son and the council and sent an email and photos.
“I was lucky, a local farmer came out and helped me scrape some of the rocks off with metal tools so I could slowly make my way home.”
She received a reply from NCC saying it had lodged her email to the Transportation Team for further response and action.
Another person, who didn’t want to be named, said when they got to the section being resealed, they slowed right down, even stopping at times because of the traffic.
“But my wheels still got absolutely covered in tar and loose stones. Even though everyone was driving carefully and keeping a safe distance, stones were flying everywhere, and my bonnet ended up with multiple chips.
“My tyres were so coated that debris kept flying off for ages, and I even lost traction at roundabouts despite driving safely. The noises from my tyres got so bad I had to pull over to check them.”
LDR is local body journalism co-funded by RNZ and NZ On Air.
