Whangarei farmer sick of fixing fence after regular crashes at 'Murphy's Corner' on Ngunguru Rd

The squealing of tyres, the smash of a vehicle crashing through a fence and the screams of injured people.

They are terrifying sounds Gwen Murphy hears frequently and dreads.

It means another potential tragedy at her farm gate on Ngunguru Rd, locally known as Murphy's Corner.

Three people were injured in this crash on January 18.

Whangarei District Council statistics show that in the 10 years to the end of 2017 there have been three minor injury crashes, one serious injury crash and no fatal crashes on the stretch of road.

But Murphy reckons that's a case of lies, damned lies and statistics. She's lived there for 47 years and knows the truth.

"Those statistics are absolute rubbish. It's just about weekly that someone needs our help from smashing through the fences, leaving the road and needing to be towed out with our tractor. We're forever having to fix the fences."

She says most of the crashes are speed related and many drivers fail to heed the recommended 45km/h speed limit that appears on a road sign right on the corner.

A woman was seriously injured when her car rolled and landed upside down in June last year.

"The way people drive along here ... there are some lunatics."

She recalls the day a man limped up her driveway nursing a broken collar bone. She drove him to Whangarei Hospital.

Then there was the woman she helped out of her car and called for an ambulance.

"I can remember a two-car collision where I could hear the screams."

Stolen cars have crashed and been dumped and often Murphy wakes to a smashed fence and no sign of the offending vehicle.

"Few people offer any payment for the cost of repairing the fences or towing them back on the road."

Murphy hoped roading authorities would take a closer look at the S-bend corner and make some safety modifications.

This car slid off the road in July 2015.

But before the corner can come under scrutiny, crashes must be reported.

Police also want those involved in crashes to report them so authorities can identify roading issues.

Murphy said the onus was on those involved to report crashes but she might start doing it.

Northland road policing boss Inspector Wayne Ewers said reporting crashes highlighted issues that would be brought to the attention of councils and the NZ Transport Authority.

He said crashes that involved injury or damage to property had to be reported to police within 36 hours.

The stretch of road would then come to the attention of authorities, go on a list and become a priority.

"There's more than one reason to report a crash. It may be that the corner of piece of road does need some work to make it safe."

But he said half the problem was people not driving to the conditions.

In January this year a woman involved in a two-vehicle crash near Murphy's corner died in hospital 11 days later.

Councillor Anna Murphy put questions about the number of crashes on the road to the Whangarei District Council's roading division after the fatal crash.

The council said it was the first fatal crash on the corner.

"We anecdotally know that there have been a few more loss-of-control crashes in the vicinity, which are not included in the aforementioned statistics but since they have not been reported to the police, details of those crashes remain unknown," said a spokesperson.

The council said Ngunguru Rd had been identified as a high risk rural road and was a priority rural corridors.

"We investigate and plan safety works on such roads by means of Crash Reduction Studies (CRS), which are done every three years. The next round of CRS is due late this year.

"This section of Ngunguru Rd will also be investigated in this year's CRS."