Roading concerns justified

"We all know drivers are ultimately the ones at fault. Roads seldom cause crashes, drivers do." PHOTO/GETTY IMAGES

There's nothing that gets people going more than talk about bad drivers and dangerous roads.

On Tuesday last week the Rotorua Daily Post featured a front-page story about what locals say is a dangerous piece of road in the Hamurana area.

The locals have had enough of roads in Hamurana Kaharoa, in particular the Tauranga Direct Rd and Te Waerenga Rd-Jackson Rd intersections.

The residents calling for action include local man Blair Hartley who has had a near-death-experience with his family in a head-on crash this year.

While the crash wasn't in this area, it's enough to make him so road-safety conscious he feels he needs to speak up about the Hamurana and Kaharoa roads.

He's backed by Kaharoa School principal Warwick Moyle and the Kaharoa Community Association's Joanne Wallace, who both say they are constantly getting complaints and are concerned someone might die if nothing is done.

The association is in the process of writing to roading authorities to demand action.

The residents' plight has generated a lot of feedback in our Letters section, on our Facebook page and website and I must say I'm quite surprised at the number of people attacking the drivers, not backing the residents over their concerns for the road.

We all know drivers are ultimately the ones at fault. Roads seldom cause crashes, drivers do.

But the fact is there will always be bad drivers, so good on these residents for speaking up.

While there's no roading improvements for this area on the immediate horizon, there's the old saying "the squeaky wheel gets the oil" so complaints directed at the right people can't hurt.