Lower speed limits ‘dangerous’, Wairarapa businessman says after crash; Waka Kotahi disagrees

A warning sign on the approach to a hill on a winding rural road.

A Wairarapa businessman who came across a fatal crash near Carterton says Waka Kotahi has made local roads more dangerous by lowering speed limits.

Chris Gollins, who owns a real estate company, arrived at the scene of the Clareville crash shortly after it occurred on Monday afternoon.

He told the Herald it was “the usual road accident chaos” with emergency services on site and distraught people on the roadside. He said it appeared two vehicles had collided head-on.

Gollins said the crash happened 200m from the end of a new temporary speed limit put in place by Waka Kotahi as part of effort to lower the road toll.

He claims this is an “incredibly dangerous” decision.

“Waka Kotahi has created an incredibly dangerous situation for the roads on the Wairarapa; this is where they have already imposed their speed restrictions they’re threatening other roads with.”

Both Waka Kotahi and the police told the Herald a thorough investigation must be carried out before any conclusions can be drawn about what caused the crash, which killed one and injured three.

A witness told the Wairarapa Times Age it appeared one of the vehicles had drifted across the centre line before the collision.

Gollins told the Herald he believes the crash lies on the shoulders of the roading agency.

“I think [responsibility] lies with Waka Kotahi for trying to unnecessarily change the habit of a lifetime. The road toll is not brought around by speed, it is brought about by careless driving, unconfident driving, distraction.”

He says lowering the speed limits causes drivers to be confused, unsure what speed they’re travelling at, and that slower drivers are more likely to be distracted, as well as unsure how to gauge the speed of other vehicles.

However, a 2022 study by environmental consultancy company WSP found across three sections of highway in the North Island where speed reductions were put in place, there was a 30 per cent decrease in death and serious injury.

Speed is a contributing factor in 60 per cent of fatal crashes - and often determines the outcome of a crash.

A spokesperson from Te Manatū Waka Ministry of Transport said the speed at which you are travelling determines whether you will end up home safe, hospitalised or dead.

“It is globally recognised that even small reductions in vehicle speeds result in large reductions in trauma. A 5 per cent decrease in average speed leads to around a 10 per cent decrease in all crashes that cause injury, and 20 per cent in crashes that kill people.”

A spokesperson from Waka Kotahi told the Herald lowering the speed limits is just one step of many to bring the road toll down.

“Safer speeds are just one part of Road to Zero. Equally important are improvements to roads and roadsides, encouraging the use of safer vehicles, and safer road user behaviour.

“The decision on the new speed limit for State Highway 2 was based on a thorough technical assessment of the road, which considered factors like crash history, road environment and speeds that people generally travel at, as well as feedback received during consultation from the public and stakeholders.”