Vehicles skid off road
By TONY SMITH, in Nelson Eight vehicles towing caravans or boats skidded off the road at two accident “black spots” in the Nelson region as Boxing Day traffic battled adverse driving conditions.
Traffic Officer Stuart Chalmers, of Motueka, said five vehicles careered off the road on a tight, right-hand bend on the Motueka side of the Stanley Brook hill near Tapawera. Three cars also ran off the road while negotiating a difficult corner on the Nelson side of the Hope saddle, near Belgrove. Mr Chalmers said no-one was injured, although the accidents were “quite frightening for the occupants.” Most vehicles suffered only minor damage and were able to be driven away after being hauled back on to the road.
The unusually high number of accidents on the two bends was attributed to the wet road surface after heavy rain in the Nelson province on Christmas Day and Boxing Day. “The road surface is relatively smooth and the tar had been softened by the sun we had in
the day before Christmas. The rain left the road very slippery,” Mr Chalmers said. “That, and a combination of some people travelling a bit too fast for the conditions, and the fact some trailers were too heavy for the cars towing them, contributed to the accidents.”
After an early accident on the Stanley Brook hill, a “slow” sign was posted to warn motorists of the potential hazard. However, a car hit the sign as it slewed off the road.
“It was three or four hours before it was noticed that the sign wasn’t up and in that time at least another two vehicles went off the road,” Mr Chalmers said. Salvage operators took three hours to recover a precariouslybalanced vehicle on the Hope saddle road. A car towing a caravan was perched at a 45degree angle over the carriageway and was “hanging on by the coupling ball,” Mr Chalmers said.
The car had to be anchored with chains while the caravan was moved. Conditions were very cool on the Hope saddle and “almost reached the point of snowing” at one stage, he said.
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Press, 28 December 1987, Page 1
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354Vehicles skid off road Press, 28 December 1987, Page 1
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