Another plea to slow down

This one was in Wanganui, but Northlanders have a habit of crashing into poles too. Photo / Wanganui Chronicle

Motorists are once again being urged to slow down as a spike in vehicles crashing into power poles throughout Northland continues.

The message came last week as the police, the Northland Transportation Alliance, Northpower and Top Energy teamed up to raise public awareness on the dangers of crashing into pole crashes. There had been 381 reported crashes involving vehicles hitting power poles, street lamps and telecommunication poles in Northland since 2016. More than 200 involved power poles, 109 in the Kaipara and Whangārei districts, on the Northpower electricity network, and 96 of Top Energy's in the Far North.

Waka Kotahi NZ Transport Agency analysis shows 45 per cent of drivers were aged 15-29. Six crashes were fatal and 141 resulted in injuries.

The social cost of those crashes was more than $67 million according to the Northland Transportation Alliance's Ian Crayton-Brown.

"Unfortunately Kiwi drivers are just too impatient and aggressive, and we can't afford to be that way on our roads. You just can't defend that behaviour," he said.

Brain injury Association Northland liaison officer Vikki Herdman said many road crash victims suffered brain injuries that had a life-long impact on them, their families and communities.

"A moment's distraction can cause a lifetime of change," she said.

"People living with brain injuries often live with ongoing fatigue issues. They may travel from Whangārei to Auckland and need to stop for several rests. Fatigue is real, take a break."

That sentiment was shared by Senior Sergeant Steve Dickson, who said any death on the roads was one too many.

"A third of road deaths are due to people not wearing seat belts, a third are alcohol- and drug-related and a third are speed, people simply going too fast for the conditions. People also need to avoid being distracted by mobile phones and passengers," he said.

"Road safety is everybody's responsibility. Decisions you make as a driver impact not only you and those in your vehicle, but everyone else on the road as well. The speed at which you crash is the biggest determining factor of injury."

"Taking out" power poles and ground-mounted transformers created additional dangers from electrocution and fires, and power outages, according to Northpower network general manager Josie Boyd.

"I want to again urge motorists to reduce their speed in winter conditions. We are seeing too many crashes taking out power poles," she said.

"During the initial Covid-19 lockdown we had virtually no incidents, but since then we have seen a spike in vehicles crashing into power poles. Our message is that if you are in a vehicle that takes down a power pole and the powerlines end up on the ground, be extremely careful.

"If you can safely drive clear, do so. If not, stay in the vehicle, phone 111, and stay where you are until you are told it is safe to get out. Our crews and emergency services attend to these crashes quickly."

Northpower's 109 vehicle vs pole crashes since 2016 Northpower had interrupted the electricity supply to 47,129 customers. There were no crashes in May, during the Covid-19 lockdown, but 13 had been reported since June.

The figures for Top Energy were remarkably similar, with 96 crashes costing 44,928 customers their power supply.

Top Energy network operations manager Tony Smallman agreed that motorists needed to slow down and pay more attention on the road.

"We don't want to see anybody hurt, but you can see from these figures that there is a big impact on the rest of community when power poles are taken out. There is an economic and social cost, but these incidents also put the safety of others in the community and our lines crews at risk," he said

"There is also a large financial cost to these incidents. It is common for repairs to broken poles and powerlines to be in the $15,000 to $30,000 bracket, and that is money that doesn't go back to our consumer owners."