John MacDonald: Rural intersections are absolute shockers

Canterbury Mornings with John MacDonald

We are looking forward to the ski season big time at our place.
But, I tell you what, there is one thing about the ski season that I don’t like - and that’s driving through some of those intersections on the way to Mt Hutt.
I know it’s slightly quicker turning off State Highway 73 before you get to Darfield - but I don’t. I go all the way to Darfield and take State Highway 77 through Glentunnel and Coalgate. And I do that to try and avoid some of those awful rural intersections which are in the news today following a Coroner’s inquiry into a terrible crash that claimed the lives of a woman and two of her very young children.
Sadly, it’s a very familiar story and it’s prompted the Coroner to say that some sort of review needs to be done to try and make rural intersections safer. And I couldn’t agree more.
The case in point dates back to April 2019 when Chante Harmer ploughed through an intersection near Ashburton and collided with an oncoming ute.
The inquest into their deaths heard from the Police that the Give Way sign at the intersection could be seen clearly from 120 metres away, but they reckoned it could easily be missed because of hedging and poplar trees and irrigation culverts on both sides of the road.
The Coroner concluded that she didn’t stop at the intersection because she didn’t see the Give Way sign and wasn’t aware of the intersection and the other vehicle until it was too late.
After hearing and considering all of the evidence, the Coroner is saying that instead of a Give Way sign there should’ve been a Stop sign at the intersection. But he’s saying that wouldn’t necessarily have prevented the crash happening either.
I think this quote from Coroner Marcus Elliott paints the terrifying picture that all of us can imagine: “This crash illustrates the danger that drivers on long, straight rural roads may not identify the presence of an intersection in sufficient time to stop”.
That is chilling, isn’t it? And it’s chilling because we’ve probably all driven on those roads. And I don’t know about you, but every time I take those roads I am so mindful of the potential for other drivers just to sail through those intersections. I hate those intersections, but you’ve just got to stay alert, don’t you?
Not that I’m having a go at this poor woman for what happened. We weren’t in that car that day and so we will never know what actually happened in the lead-up to that terrible crash.
But we do know that the Coroner has looked into it and thinks we need to be taking a close look at rural intersections. And I couldn’t agree with him more.
A few years ago something was done by Selwyn police officer Dan Harker, who got behind a trial of some flashing signs at a couple of intersections after that tragic crash on one of the intersections with Thompsons Track.
You’ll remember this one. 12-year-old Abi Hone was killed, as well as Sally Rumble and her daughter Ella Summerfield, when a tourist was driving in the area, missed a stop sign and crashed into the car they were travelling in.
That was May 2014 when that crash happened. The other one we’re talking about happened five years after that. And, as far as I’m concerned, those intersections are no safer now in 2022 - which is an absolute shocker.

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