Otaki pedestrian crossing concerns

SLOW DOWN: Motorists have been urged to be extra careful when approaching a pedestrian crossing in Mill Rd, by Otaki College.

Slow down and be prepared to stop is a mum's message to motorists when approaching a pedestrian crossing on Mill Rd, outside Otaki College.

The crossing area was "just a scary place really," said Kylie Plunkett, who has been using the crossing regularly with her children.

She said there was a lot of movement and distraction in the area, including pedestrians, people looking at a college/community message board, and traffic from Millhaven Place, yet people tended to "hoon through" the crossing.

Quite often one side of the road's traffic would stop but the other side would "keep zooming through".

Recently a woman driver became irate when she stopped to let Kylie and her children cross the crossing.

"My three children and I were coming out of the college and onto the crossing," Kylie said.

"She stopped for us but I was just making sure the opposite side had stopped for us.

"I always take an extra couple of moments just to make sure they've stopped.

"But she got very frustrated and threw her arms up and mouthed at me 'when are you going'.

"It made me angry because so many times people don't stop on the other side."

Kylie and family were "hard to miss walking down the road".

"It's so obvious they've [driver's] seen us but they choose to ignore us [at the crossing] either because they're going too fast or they can't be bothered stopping.

"It's frustrating."

She said another pedestrian crossing in Waerenga Rd, at the back of the college, saw people "people speed through there as well".

Kylie, who said a raised crossing outside Otaki School worked well as it slowed traffic down, raised her pedestrian crossing concerns on the Sunny Otaki Facebook page and "couldn't believe the response to my post".

Another issue was sunstrike at certain times of the year.

"Down Mill Rd can be blinding and that worries me too.

"The visibility is just shocking."