By Melissa Nightingale
Changes may be made to the intersection of Great North Rd, Victoria Ave and London St after a cyclist was hit by a car there last week.
And changes are what some Whanganui people say are needed for a junction they consider dangerous for cyclists.
That is the view
of a woman whose daughter went through a car window in a crash and a man who broke a bone avoiding a vehicle.
Last Thursday the driver fled the scene after his car hit a cyclist about 7.50am. Damage to the car's passenger side is likely.
This follows incidents a few years ago at the intersection.
Miranda Milnes' daughter was cycling down St John's Hill towards the intersection when she slammed into a car pulling out of London St.
The cyclist went flying "right through the window" on the driver's side of the car.
"If it had been a couple of seconds different... she would have died," Mrs Milnes said.
Her daughter was concussed in the accident. She still suffered aches and pains, Mrs Milnes said.
The accident happened before the intersection was changed to stop drivers turning right into the intersection from the northern section of London St beside the Gull petrol station.
But Mrs Milnes said the intersection was still too complicated to be safe.
She said there was "an awful lot" to distract a driver from looking for cyclists. "I think it's still quite dangerous."
She thought the section of London St beside the petrol station should be cut out, and traffic coming from that direction could instead go through the Glasgow St intersection.
Vince McBride, who had a similar experience about four years ago, also believes the intersection is still dangerous.
Mr McBride was also cycling down Great North Rd when a van pulled out from the northern section of London St.
"I jammed on the brakes... as a result, the back of the bike slid and it was heading for the van."
Mr McBride fell off his bike as it slid towards the vehicle. He broke the scaphoid bone in his wrist when he landed.
"I banged my head on the ground. My hand hurt really quite a lot."
His accident also happened before the intersection was reconfigured, but he believed the changes were not enough.
He said there was still danger from cars turning left out of north London St, and there were "so many different cars" going in different directions.
New Zealand Transport Agency central region highways manager Neil Walker said in light of the recent crash they would work with Whanganui District Council to "look again at this intersection to see if any further changes were needed to improve safety".
"Our records show that in the last five years there have been three police-reported crashes relating to give-way and stop controls at the Great North Rd/London St/Victoria Ave intersection. None of the intersection crashes resulted in serious injury," he said.
Police are asking for information on last week's accident. People can contact Constable Dalbeth at the Whanganui police station on 06 349 0600 or call Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111.
