Anger over Springfield traffic woes

By ALISON BROWN in Rotorua
Residents of one of Rotorua's most affluent suburbs are pleading with motorists to slow down after a car driven by speeding youths ploughed into the Utuhina Stream on Saturday.
The accident happened less than 100m from the site of another serious crash on Springfield Rd which injured three youths six days earlier.
Residents, who claim the area has become a major accident blackspot, say it will only be a matter of time before someone is killed unless action is taken to slow down speedsters.
They are forming a committee and plan to approach the Rotorua District Council with their concerns.
They want a speed camera installed, a section of Springfield Rd widened, and work done to alter the curve of the road which they say increases the risk of motorists losing control near the Utuhina stream.
Shortly before 3am on Saturday a Subaru landed upside down on the edge of the stream after losing control near the bridge and crashing over a barrier.
The 15-year-old driver, who suffered internal injures, was cut free from the wreckage by the Rotorua Fire Service.
Another youth suffered severe leg and internal injuries.
Both were taken to Rotorua Hospital by St John ambulance in a serious condition.
The car was allegedly stolen from another Rotorua suburb earlier in the night.
Rotorua police area commander Inspector Bruce Horne said the vehicle had passed a police patrol on Pukehangi Rd a few minutes before the crash.
The police car was travelling in the opposite direction and by the time it turned around, the other vehicle had disappeared.
Several other police patrols converged on the area.
Mr Horne said a police dog handler was flagged down by a member of the public who had heard the vehicle crash into the Utuhina bridge.
Heather Miller, who lives near the bridge, was the first resident at the scene.
She heard one of the car's occupants calling out for help but because the car had landed upside down under the bridge, she could not immediately identify where the voice was coming from.
"Everything was just black.
"I didn't want to go down there but I made him keep talking to me until the police arrived."
Heather and her husband Chris have lived next to the bridge for more than 20 years.
They estimate there have been about a dozen accidents in the area during that time because of motorists speeding along Pukehangi and Springfield roads.
They have had to rebuild their fence twice after motorists crashed through it.
They have also attended other accidents after waking to hear screeching tyres and loud bangs.
"We're pretty organised around here now."
Another resident, who did not want to be identified, said he was so sick and tired of accidents in the area, he was setting up a committee using members of the local Neighbourhood Support Group.
It would campaign for a speed camera, widening of Springfield Rd near the bridge and work to alter the road's camber.
Mr Horne said a crash investigation would determine what charges, if any, would be laid.