Fatal crash prompts road safety call at Piha

Authorities are reviewing road safety measures at Piha following a car accident that left a teenager dead.

Agnes Chua Bowie, 15, died after the car driven by a 16-year-old childhood friend lost control on a bend and flipped upside down into the Marawhara Stream, landing just 20m from the site of a similar crash in 1994 that killed Ken Garrett.

A plaque - "he went out with a big splash" - still marks the site of the earlier accident.

The latest crash on Marine Parade North has prompted the Waitakere City Council to improve signs at the bend locals dub Kingston's Corner.

Nine crashes on Marine Parade have been logged with Land Transport New Zealand since 1990. As well as the two fatalities, four people have been seriously injured.

Council spokesman Dai Bindoff said the existing chevron signs indicating the bend will be replaced with newer yellow and black signs. The centre line will also be replaced with a solid line and the edge markings renewed.

Council staff were also looking into the area's crash history before deciding if other measures such as guard rails or speed humps were necessary, he said.

Police investigations are continuing into the latest crash on November 28. They have yet to speak to the driver.

Locals believe the car took Kingston's Corner too fast.

The Piha Ratepayers and Residents Association has written to the council in support of residents' requests to install traffic-slowing measures on the roads to North Piha.

Committee member Geoff Calvert said something needed to be done about driving speeds on Piha's narrow, winding roads.

"Definitely some sort of measure should be taken to help calm the traffic, although I'm not sure what works."

Piha district ranger Andy Pedersen said judder bars could help.

"I hate judder bars, but if it slows them down coming through here ... The Piha Road in general is an absolute death-trap.

"This is the worst time of the year, too. Kids sit their exams, and they come out here to let off steam. Every time at this time of year there's problems."

Piha resident Brooke McLay witnessed cranes, trucks and six police cars at the crash scene.

"It's really scary when you're a local and you walk down and you see something like that and you don't know who it is. It could be someone you know."

Piha campground lessee Fiona Anderson said at least three accidents a week occurred on Piha roads.

Last January, two occurred within 10 days of each other on the same stretch of Marine Parade.

In both incidents, the drivers were heading out of North Piha when they failed to take the bend, spinning out over the bank and hitting a transformer.

"The road's not actually at fault. It's people not driving to the condition of the road," Ms Anderson said.

"You're coming into a corner, you can't see out the other end so it's a good idea to brake before you get to the corner, not get halfway around and chuck the anchors on and end up spinning out and over the bank."