Ban on motorway white crosses provokes anger

1.00pm

A row is brewing over Transit New Zealand's decision to take down white crosses on motorway fatality sites around the country.

Transit New Zealand said today it was not safe for people to stop on the side of motorways to erect or maintain crosses, but Victim Support said the families of people killed on the motorways were being "revictimised".

Transit said the white crosses, which dot motorways around the country at places where people have died in road crashes, would be removed in line with a policy which had been in place for some time but which not been rigidly enforced.

Transit New Zealand network operations manager David Bates said the white crosses would be tolerated on roads other than motorways provided they met certain criteria.

"On the motorways we just felt it was intolerable in terms of the safety issues that went with that," Mr Bates told National Radio today.

He said they worked with the police and other agencies and told them why the policy was in place.

That was disputed today by Victims Support chief executive Steven Caldwell who said they had not been approached and there had been no discussion.

"It's frustrating," Mr Caldwell told NZPA.

He said the view that people were at risk by stopping on the side of motorways was "a little valid" but Transit New Zealand could also work with people rather than putting them through more trauma by ripping up the crosses.

Mr Caldwell said families of motorway victims would be very distraught and Transit New Zealand needed to rethink the policy.

"These places are significant memorials. They are important sites for the families, sometimes even more so than the grave sites. They are going to be extremely distraught about this."

He said Victim Support hoped to talk to Transit about its decision and the issue of road safety which could be governed by regulation which could include a ban on tending the sites.

"The key issue is having the site there and marking the spot."

He said the white crosses were a cogent reminder of road fatalities and the need to slow down and take more care.

He said the decision meant a "great deal of re-victimisation" and Transit New Zealand needed to be far more sensitive.

"The fact that people do this indicates to me how much they need it," Mr Caldwell said.

Mr Bates said the crosses had some value in reminding motorists of the need for care, but they would not be allowed on motorways because of safety concerns.

"On the motorways we think that tips the balance in terms of safety so we will not let them (stay) there," he said.

Automobile Association spokesman George Fairburn said if Transit New Zealand wanted to remove the crosses from motorways because they were a distraction and a safety issue, they should also remove them from all rural roads as well.

He said rural roads often had no shoulder, a 100km/h speed limit and little room for people to stop safely.

Mr Fairbairn told NZPA he had seen two or three cars pull up with extended family at cross sites "and they are a much greater road hazard than on a motorway".

He said there were two sides to the debate.

The original intentions were that a simple white cross only be erected.

"Some of them have become a shrine surrounded by flowers and everything else that people then tend and that is what is causing the problem."

He said the AA would be happy with a simple white cross.

"The simple white cross has proved to be effective. It has allowed a family to acknowledge they have lost a person at that site.

"It sends a reminder to other motorists there was an incident at that point and maybe it is a salutary reminder to drive more safely," Mr Fairburn said.

- NZPA