Danger roads identified

Two stretches of state highway intersecting with Featherston have been deemed the most dangerous in the Wellington region.
According to road-crash statistics released with the KiwiRAP Road Safety Tool published this week, the two roads that pose the greatest personal risk to drivers in the Wellington region are a stretch of SH53 linking Featherston with Martinborough and SH2 traversing the Rimutaka Hill between Featherston and Upper Hutt.
KiwiRap is a road assessment programme that maps roads into five categories of risk high, medium-high, medium, low-medium and low that measures the potential for motorists to be involved in a serious or fatal crash according to data taken from 2002 to 2006.
Mike Noon, KiwiRAP spokesman and Automobile Association motoring affairs general manager, said the road risk maps are either collective, based on traffic density over a certain length of road and the number of fatal or serious crashes, while personal risk maps are based on the likelihood of an individual being involved in a crash on that road.
The two highway links out of Featherston top the Wellington region for personal risk with the SH53 stretch of road the most dangerous, he said, although no Wairarapa sections of highway figure among the worst 26 in New Zealand.
"The Rimutaka road is a road you treat with care. It's not an easy trip and it's subject to weather extremes, so it should always be approached with caution," he said.
"The road to Martinborough may not seem the same but should also be respected as it gets quite congested when there are events in the town and even though it's not so clear cut, it does pose a greater risk according to the statistics."
Mr Noon said the ultimate aim of KiwiRAP is to enable drivers to identify sections of highway that pose a greater danger and to warn when renewed vigilance is needed.
"Reducing our road toll requires safer drivers in safer vehicles on safer roads. Not every road can be fixed overnight and some need to be approached with greater respect and caution.
"KiwiRAP provides an excellent way of measuring the safety of our roads. If you know a particular road poses a higher risk you can allow greater following distances and reduced speeds."
The unique geography of New Zealand roads challenge road builders and motorists, he said.
Mr Noon said KiwiRAP is an internationally-recognised road assessment tool that will next year also measure road engineering features on a five-star rating system.
"A specialised vehicle with onboard video will identify features such as lane width, topography, road divisions, and roadside furniture like trees and power poles for grading into five categories."
KiwiRAP is a joint project involving the Automobile Association, the Transport Ministry, Transit New Zealand, Land Transport New Zealand, ACC and the police.
For more information and to view the KiwiRAP road risk maps go to www.kiwirap.org.nz