Wellington heading north???

**Blakamin** · 20th August 2004, 22:26

Originally Posted by Jim2

Roads don't kill. Neither do roading engineers, road crews, nor even politicians.

As callous as it sounds you need to be stupid, in a state of altered reality (at least one party involved anyway), or at a stretch, unlucky to have an accident along that road.

I agree..
in the late 80's, my dads best friend (and us) was(were) coming back from taupo after a long weekend with his wife and daughter,(we had one of their daughters in our car), when a car crossed the road south of pukerua bay, (where there is now a barrier) and drove over the top of their car, giving the mother severe brain damage.... we were 1/2 hour behind and i knew there was something wrong when the traffic stopped (weird feeling).... knew it involved us (we had the long weekend together) things were never the same for that family, and probably a lot more families too.... if it's going to be a "state highway", make it a "highway"... not a 2 lane backroad. I know it will take dollars, but, at this stage, every time it rains the roads down here get closed... somethings gotta happen, no matter the $$$$$

**Hooks** · 20th August 2004, 22:28

well said Jim .... The onus must be on the user first and foremost to ensure that the road is used as safely as possible. The only problem with that is ..... that kiwi drivers are not known to drive to conditions or at least follow instructions to minimise risks on a stretch of dangerous road but prefer to treat it as a challenge that should be exceeded at all costs ..... If the government is to be made accountable then so too must the drivers ..... as I said before .... I can't recall hearing of any bike accidents on that road in the 25 years or so I lived there .....

**Blakamin** · 20th August 2004, 22:42

Just saw nightline....how can this shit keep happening???.... the road aint that narrow? was it a passing manouvre? 4 in 1 car?

**sedge** · 20th August 2004, 22:47

I can't understand it, a large percentage of the accidents happen on the long straight stretch of road with double yellow lines down the middle by Fishermans table. Don't you think that if your driving was so crappy you couldn't always stay in your lane that you would take extra care here ?.

**Blakamin** · 20th August 2004, 22:54

i'm sorta waiting to see how young/old the 4 in the car were...

**Hooks** · 21st August 2004, 00:08

I see that another has died in hospital ..... 4 !!! not good ..... and there was another car that smashed into the first 2 !!!

how fast are these dumb fucks going along there ????

Crazy !!! and scary .... I'm having second thoughts about letting about my kids out there .....mind you I have been driving/riding for 30 years nearly .... ( shit I'm old !!

) and still haven't been involved in a major ..... been right behind 3 that involved death though !! so I guess if you know how to drive defensively and keep your wits about you then you have a chance .... maybe .....who knows ...

more port please ....

**Lou Girardin** · 21st August 2004, 07:34

In Transit NZ world, when there are enough dead and injured, the cost/benefit ratio will fall in favour of the Transmission gully project. So, Wellingtonians, it's your duty to crash for the greater good.
I didn't appreciate the TV3 cameraman sticking the camera in the face of one of the injured. We really are stooping to the depths of US style reporting aren't we?
As far as the driving goes, Transit can paint double yellows on every km of road in the country, but it won't stop the frustrated or moronic drivers from following their natural incination.

LB · 22nd August 2004, 04:53

.
.I didn't see the TV3 news coverage on Friday night, but last night (Sat night) they apologised for their "lack of judgement".
.
.

**James Deuce** · 22nd August 2004, 08:26

Just to bring it a bit closer to home, the deceased were the parents and two aunties of a workmate.

**merv** · 22nd August 2004, 08:26

The hard thing to comprehend is why so many people cannot keep their vehicle on their side of the road that so many crashes happen on that road. The road is not full of tricky slow blind corners to catch people out, and anyone should be able to drive along it at 100km/hr without any problem steering their car left of the yellow line. Transit have reacted now by putting an 80km/hr limit on that piece of road too.

As for the roads themselves going through small towns, that's because they were initially built many moons ago to link the small towns and then the towns grew up around the highways and eventually the towns and the traffic outgrew the roads.

**Hooks** · 22nd August 2004, 08:55

It was interesting to me, to see that yet again the ones who were at fault were older and returning from a funeral. This seems to be a bit of a trend in recent times .... what are these people doing .... they are going to an event that is highly draining, emotionally and physically .... and they drive long distances there and back ,without taking the obvious precautions of resting before returning or using alternative methods of transport that don't involve them having to drive.

jim2 I'm sorry for your workmates loss ... made even more tragic by the circumstances .....

**Firefight** · 22nd August 2004, 09:25

Originally Posted by Lou Girardin

In Transit NZ world, when there are enough dead and injured, the cost/benefit ratio will fall in favour of the Transmission gully project. So, Wellingtonians, it's your duty to crash for the greater good.
I didn't appreciate the TV3 cameraman sticking the camera in the face of one of the injured. We really are stooping to the depths of US style reporting aren't we?

The same could be said for the sad reporting of the rural posty whos, husband had to be interviewed so soon after his wifes body been found.

Did he need that? Did we need it ?

F/F

**Paul in NZ** · 22nd August 2004, 10:14

I dunno... This is a bummer...

Transit's stupid need jerk reaction is a predictable response because it costs fuck all and they don't have to admit by not building Transmission Gully (or some other option) they actually made a mistake...

The problem with that road is is IS nearly quite good (in parts) and you can get along at a reasonable lick. That makes the accidents so much worse of course... The last bit of the Rimutakas must be a similar length and yet we don't see the same deaths. Why? I guess the Rimutakas sends out enough natural warning signs to be careful. The coastal highway seems easy by comparison.

When we allowed used imports and reduced the cost of car ownwership, we allowed a whole new class of vehicle into the country in numbers never seen before. The roads can't cope. Yes, other countries may have similar problems but it is so effortless to be wafting along at 120kph you don't expect to see traffic lights and roundabouts. Given wellie commuters habit of driving an inch off the rear bumper and all the hold ups...

Well... No it still makes no sense does it...

I tell you one thing though. Making the limit 80kph won't make any difference....

Paul N

Sorry for the loss to the families.... What a bloody waste.

pps. yes, TV news. Rotten cunts the lot of them and I refuse to watch it. They are the sort of smug pricks that would watch a kid drown in a river through the lens of a camera rather than putting the damn thing down to pull him out. I have NOTHING but contempt for the Holmes generation of reporting.