Crash sparks road safety fears

COLLISION: The busy intersection where a 30-year-old man was critically injured. PHOTO/GEORGE NOVAK

Local residents have raised concerns about a busy intersection where a Tauranga cyclist was critically injured after being in collision with a van.

A 30-year-old man, who suffered serious head and neck injuries when he and a van collided at 7.55am on Wednesday at the intersection of Waihi Rd and Churchill Rd in Judea, remained in a serious but stable condition in Tauranga Hospital.

While residents have expressed concern, police and Tauranga City Council road safety officials do not believe the roadway was a contributing factor in the crash.

A woman who works nearby told the Bay of Plenty Times that Waihi Rd was popular with cyclists.

The intersection with Churchill Rd was close to the intersection with Robins Rd on the other side of Waihi Rd, with a lot of turning traffic.

"It's just a nightmare," the woman said.

Former cycling safety advocate Iris Thomas said she had lived in Churchill Rd for 25 years until she moved 18 months ago, and said it was often an extremely busy intersection in the morning.

Ms Thomas said she could see how easily the collision could have happened, with road users all rushing to get to work.

Bruce Galloway, a Tauranga cycling safety advocate and deputy chairman of the Bay of Plenty Community Trails Trust, said he had been cycling for 40 years, and during that time had been both hit while biking and had also crashed into vehicles on his bike.

"This collision is a timely reminder to everyone to take extreme care at intersections," he said.

"I feel very sorry for the cyclist but this is very busy intersection with three transportation lanes - the footpath, the cycle lane and traffic lane."

Head of Western Bay road policing Senior Sergeant Ian Campion said it was too early to start attributing blame to anyone but it did not appear the roadway was a contributing factor.

Mr Campion said the intersection was not a known as a high-crash spot.

Police still wanted to speak to witnesses and the driver of a vehicle travelling towards the city centre, who is understood to have given way to the van as it turned right from Waihi Rd into Churchill Rd, he said.

Tauranga City Council transportation manager Martin Parkes said the intersection did not feature on the council's list of roads needing improvement works, nor was it an area that had a lot of crashes.

"However, once we receive the crash investigation report from police we will obviously need to make some decisions on whether the intersection does need some attention."

Mr Parkes said there was no doubt it was a busy intersection, with 20,500 vehicles using it daily, so it was important motorists took extreme care, particularly at peak times.