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Tuesday, June 23, 2015

NZTA soon to have warning flags for vehicles

The speed limit on a section of State Highway 10 near Kerikeri will be dropped from 100km/h to 80km/h in a bid to reduce serious crashes

Yet another Northland road has its speed limit reduced.

On September 28, 2013, two young women were badly injured when the modified car they were passengers in rammed a car which had stopped at the scene of an earlier accident. A crash investigator put the car's minimum speed at 157-168km/h

Because some irresponsible tosser was doing near the real ton the rest of us mostly law abiding drivers will suffer.

Northland roads are still in such a state with seal breaking up all over the place, large potholes everywhere.   Piecemeal patchwork repairs, poor level of finish and lumpy seal overlaps, I've seen them doing the same job multiple times over the past few years.   Approaches to bridges are something else, they've got a degree in making ski jumps for those.  All designed to bugger your wheel alignment.

I know, I drove SH1 from near Kaitaia southward over the weekend during that foul weather towing a trailer.  Double speed wipers for three hours heading toward Jafaland, playing pothole and surface water pond dodgems in the late afternoon gloom and into the dark.

You're looking just to get up to full speed again, then some NZTA / local council desk jockey has imposed another "temporary" speed restriction on your previously open road.  Never fixing the root cause of poorly finished roads and poor design. Temporary might be good for road works of a few weeks, not years as below.

Just going into Whangarei - these speed signs have been marked "Temporary" for years.  A sudden drop from 80 to 50Km/h.  Like the long unrepaired dip in the road at the rail level crossing a few metres down the road.  So long unrepaired they've had time to erect warning signs.

And the last overtaking lane in Lyin' Len's territory heading north has had temporary road works being done on it for nigh on three years.  It's the only northward overtaking spot for miles either side, you keep up with the traffic looking to possibly pass only to find that Len's roading repair funding doesn't extend that far north and there is still no overtaking after years of "temporary".

I get the feeling that the deskbound "road safety" wankers at NZTA will not be happy till all vehicles are preceded by a man with a flag.


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