Call to action for Southland's deadly Milford Road
Sergeant Tod Hollebon of Te Anau police, Te Anau Volunteer Fire Brigade Chief Fire Officer Graeme Moffat, Te Anau St John station manager John Lambeth on the Milford Road. All three and their staff are responsible for attending, and cleaning up the carnage that occurs on the road to Milford Sound.
It's a beautiful road and a scenic drive that draws thousands of visitors each year and it has a deadly reputation. Yet, is it the road itself, the drivers or a wider lack of driver education to blame? Dave Nicoll reports.
Ask any local about the Milford Rd and they could probably tell you a few stories involving close calls.
It's not hard to comprehend. With the amount of visitors who drive the road each year crashes are expected.
Tuesday's horrendous crash claimed the life of two people, whose bodies are yet to be identified.
Traffic data from the Homer tunnel shows that in 2013, 124,000 vehicles passed through the tunnel, 23,560 of those heavy vehicles or buses.
READ MORE:
* Rental car driver blamed for horrific fatal crash
* Two die in fiery crash near Te Anau
* Witnesses tried to help man trapped in car after bus crash before it burst into flames[1]< small>[2][3]
In 2016 that number increased to 164,000 vehicles of which 29,520 were heavy vehicles or buses. Light vehicle volumes are increasing at greater rate than heavy vehicles.
Arrows have proved significant in ensuring drivers stick to the correct side of the road. (FILE PHOTO)
But for the crash victims and their families, it is something out of the blue. And in most cases people would argue it was avoidable.
CAR 'ON WRONG SIDE OF ROAD'
On Tuesday two people died in a horrific crash[4] between a bus and a car near Te Anau.
Thousands more tourists are expected to drive on the Milford Rd in the years to come. (FILE PHOTO).
The bus and the car were on fire when emergency services arrived. The 16 Korean tourists who were on the bus were not hurt and have now left the country. The bus driver is now being supported by his employers after the accident.
The two people who died in the car have yet to be identified.
The tour bus company involved in the crash on Friday said the rental car was on the wrong side of the road[6].
Better education and more signage will be key to improving driver habits. (FILE PHOTO)
"All I can say is that I believe that at the time of impact the car had crossed the centre line," Explorer Tourlines owner Stephen Cook said.
If there's a call to action to reduce crashes it needs to start with driver education.
NZTA estimates that 85 per cent of drivers on the road are visitors, either from overseas or other parts of New Zealand.
The driver of this car was killed when his car left the road on State Highway 94 on the Milford side of the Homer tunnel in the Cleddau valley.
Sergeant Tod Hollebon said some drivers might underestimate how unique these roads are, and their drive might take longer than planned, which could lead to fatigue and unsafe driving habits such as excess speed and unsafe passing.
What he has noticed on the road is a steady shift from coach tours (which are still popular) to people choosing to self-drive, either in a rental or private vehicle, Hollebon said.
"Safety on the road ultimately rests with every road user. If drivers maintained safe speeds, keep to the left, ensure all passengers wear seatbelts, pass only in places which are safe, show consideration by allowing vehicles to pass when they are holding others up, keep well rested and drive to the conditions, we will be well on the way to safer roads.
"In my view the issue of road safety is applicable to all roads. Individual driver behaviour is very important, New Zealand roads can be challenging in nature and Milford Rd is no exception with tight corners, hills, narrow bridges, a tunnel and alpine weather conditions.
"The road itself is well maintained and safety from an engineering point of view is constantly being reviewed and improvements where possible are made. There is a dedicated team of contractors whose sole responsibility is to keep the road safe. Government agencies and NGOs including private companies all have a vested interest in improving safety. We have seen some excellent strategies being delivered through the visiting drivers project, promotional groups and rental car agencies."
Crash statistics for the five year period from 2012 to 2016 show there were 139 crashes made up of 65 injury crashes and 74 non-injury crashes.
Of those, three were fatal crashes. There were 30 people seriously injured and 83 minor injuries.
Types of crashes on the road fell into mostly three categories: bend lost control/head-on: 61 per cent; rear end/obstruction: 17 per cent; and straight road lost control/head-on: 15 per cent.
ENCOURAGED TO TAKE BUSES
Te Anau St John station manager John Lambeth thinks the number of crashes that occur on the road would be proportional to any other road that has the same amount of traffic. It's the driving habits that make Lambeth raise his eyebrows though.
Tourism is expected to boom in coming years in New Zealand, and Fiordland, and in particular Milford Sound, is a draw for thousands.
Apart from flying, travelling the Milford Rd is the only way to get there, which means thousands more will be on the road in years to come.
No one was going to turn people down from coming to this area as it would always be popular, Lambeth said. "Collectively, what do we do from our point of view? I think just more signage, more education."
Gorge Hill, between Mossburn and Te Anau, had been an area notorious for crashes in the past. Double yellow lines had been painted onto the road a few years ago and to date there had not been any issues there of significance, Lambeth said. "The arrows seem to be quite effective."
It was common knowledge that the locals have to readjust driving habits, he said. "The locals here are probably quite used to the indecision or indecisiveness of some of the visitors coming through our town."
Where they could, people would encourage visitors to take buses, telling them they were missing out on the scenery being behind the wheel, Lambeth said.
People were often very impatient and unaware of the time frame to travel to Milford, he said. "They're getting mixed messages in terms of that drive time so they tend to be running late and then sort of drive accordingly."
Consistent messaging on drive times would be one of the messages that needed to be reinforced, Lambeth said. "Once they leave the rental car companies how well are they informed at that point of the challenges ahead of them? Rental car companies will tell them of the issues ahead of them but do they comprehend it?"
'NOT EASY TO FORGET'
Te Anau Volunteer Fire Brigade chief fire officer Graeme Moffat said the crash on Tuesday was not easy to deal with.
"There are difficult jobs and sometimes they're not easy to forget. Unfortunately we seem to see quite a few of them."
Of the 107 calls the brigade attended last year, about 30 of them were crashes, Moffat said. "Every now and then, every year or two years, we seem to get these really bad ones."
The brigade has a close relationship with police and St John in Te Anau and have trained together on exercises.
"We've gone over worst case scenarios like a bus vs bus, which is probably one of our biggest fears up there."
The number of crashes involving tourist drivers was not specifically a local problem but an issue occurring nationally, he said.
"It just seems that the spotlight's shone on the tourists all the time when it's not necessarily them all the time either."
Moffat has been with the brigade for about 32 years.
Speaking personally, dealing with drivers was a part of living in Te Anau. A self-employed electrician, he works around the area and often in Milford Sound. "Watching for tourist drivers and roads and driving is in my health and safety plan as one of my hazards."
There was not a day that went by that he would not hear some sort of story about somebody being on the wrong side of the road or crossing the centre line, Moffat said.
WHO IS RESPONSIBLE?
Southland District Mayor Gary Tong, a former police officer, has attended his fair share of crashes.
As Mayor of a district that spreads up to Fiordland he said while crashes were horrific, there was only so much that could be done to make the roads safe.
At the end of the day it came down to personal responsibility for those behind the wheel, he said.
There had been significant improvement made to the road in recent years and it was not as bad as it had been, Tong said.
There is talk of staggering the volume of tourists going in to Milford Sound, in the hope that it might reduce congestion.
Associate Minister of Transport David Bennett said the Government was working hard to reduce all crashes on all roads. "It takes a range of organisations working together to improve road safety across all parts of the system."
Billions had been spent to improve difficult roads and make them safer, like widening lanes and installing barriers, Bennett said.
"There is an ongoing programme of practical safety improvements happening in and around the Te Anau area, from installing rumble strips and directional arrows to installing safety barriers and improving rest areas."
The Government was working with local government and the private sector, like airlines and rental companies, to provide clear information in a range of languages about New Zealand roads and rules at every stage of a visitor's trip.
- Stuff
References
- ^ Rental car driver blamed for horrific fatal crash (www.stuff.co.nz)
- ^ Two die in fiery crash near Te Anau (www.stuff.co.nz)
- ^ Witnesses tri ed to help man trapped in car after bus crash before it burst into flames (www.stuff.co.nz)
- ^ two people died in a horrific crash (www.stuff.co.nz)
- ^ Ad Feedback (stuff.co.nz)
- ^ the rental car was on the wrong side of the road (www.stuff.co.nz)
