New barrier stops car leaving road

The barrier after the crash.

Recently added flexible road safety barriers on State Highway 30, in the Bay of Plenty, have proved their worth by preventing a car from leaving the road and crashing into a deep ditch.

The driver walked away without injury from the crash between Awakeri and Te Teko. A 30m section of the barrier, known by motorcyclists as ‘cheesecutters' was damaged.

The barrier is one of a number of safety improvements recently added to this section of the Bay of Plenty highway where two people died between 2004-2014, and 15 more were seriously injured.

NZ Transport Agency highways manager Niclas Johansson says $2.5m was spent installing flexible barriers, widening the road, adding rumble strips and widening the centreline.

The safety improvements were added after the stretch of the highway was identified as a high-risk rural road with a history of motorists losing control and running off the road.

'The driver of this vehicle is very lucky the flexible barrier was there and did what it was designed to do, slowing down the vehicle and redirecting it away from the deep ditch,” says Niclas.

'Without this barrier in place it is highly likely the driver would have sustained serious injuries.”

The section of road where the barrier has been installed is long and straight, with a deep ditch on the roadside.

The flexible road safety barriers ‘catch' vehicles that leave their lane before they hit something less forgiving, like other vehicles, trees, poles or – in this case – a ditch on the side of the road.

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5 comments

golly gosh something had to give

Posted on 12-06-2017 08:06 | By old trucker

I cannot believe this, it says if the Cheesecutter was not there it would have gone in the ditch,(DAH) of cause it would have,just wondering ,did the car take over from the driver,(what caused this to happen), was the person ( on something not reported),cars do not just leave the road on their own,gosh 60 years of driving ive never had a problem,doing 18hr days in a truck.Gosh the corner at BULLIE POINT in Taupo only had a piece of untreated 12x1 along there, but this was probably before any of NZTA (so called staff) were born,my how times have changed,must have cost $$$$millions to wire rope TEL 4 times, and did you notice on that rd there is NO PLACE to turn back if something is wrong,SURELY there could be a gap every 2ks,my thoughts only,N01 is Sunlive, Thankyou, 10-4 out.


TEL

Posted on 12-06-2017 08:35 | By Kenworthlogger

Old trucker no one should be turning around on a motorway. Thats just asking for disaster.


what barrier

Posted on 12-06-2017 11:30 | By hapukafin

Like many of us who are still driving safely for 50 years or more the edge of the road was the edge of the black stuff.With more modern cars with more safety features road deaths are still on the rise and the authorities keep saying certain stretches of roads are dangerous.Its time to cut the B/S and put the blame onto the driver who cant concentrate on their driving whilst behind the wheel and stay on the road.As long as we keep blaming road conditions these drivers will never think they are doing anything wrong until they die on the road.Let it be as long they stay out of my way.


Terminology

Posted on 12-06-2017 21:14 | By Papamoaner

It pays to be careful when mentioning Motorways, carriageways, expressways etc. Different rules apply.


Terminology

Posted on 12-06-2017 21:14 | By Papamoaner

It pays to be careful when mentioning Motorways, carriageways, expressways etc. Different rules apply.


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