Call for lower speed limit at Kerikeri crash blackspot

Nicole Roach is calling for warning signs and a lower speed limit on Kapiro Rd after a series of serious crashes, including a near fatal smash on Tuesday evening. Photo/Peter de Graaf

Residents of a rural road near Kerikeri sick of car-crash carnage outside their homes are calling for a reduced speed limit and warning signs.

Kapiro Rd, which links Skudders Beach and Landing Rd with State Highway 10 north of Kerikeri, has a 100km/h speed limit and has seen several serious accidents in recent years.

In the latest crash, about 9.15pm on Tuesday, a woman in her late teens was critically injured when she lost control of her car, which flipped and landed upside-down in a ditch. She was airlifted to Whangarei Hospital.

The crash occurred in front of the property of Richard and Janette Tingey,who said it was the 14th crash, many of them serious, at exactly the same spot in 20 years.

Five years ago the couple gave up replacing their fence and instead put in a line of boulders.

"They normally bounce over the boulders and end up in our paddock, that's how fast they go," Mr Tingey said.

As well as the injuries suffered by motorists, Mrs Tingey worried about the risk to Kapiro Rd residents.

"One day someone will be waiting for a school bus or walking to their letterbox and they'll be hit," she said.

Nicole Roach, who lives across the road, said residents had repeatedly tried to get the speed limit lowered but it seemed no one was listening.

"We're sick and tired of the carnage, the accidents, the damage to our properties."

She wanted the limit reduced to 80km/h - as it was on nearby Waipapa Rd - and warning signs on either side of the black spot. A corner just west of the crash site was often covered in water when it rained, causing drivers to lose control if they were travelling at speed.

The Far North District Council investigated dropping the limit in 2015 but it was rejected on the advice of a traffic engineer.

Ms Roach said her daughter should be able to play in the trees along the front of her property or ride her bike on the driveway without fear of being hit by a car.

She would contact the council again after last week's crash. It was hard on her neighbours who were "always cleaning up and picking the pieces".

The cause of the latest crash has yet to be determined but wet weather may have been a factor.