Call for Marine Parade speed drop after boy hit by car

Businesses say Marine Parade should be 30km/h, after a boy was hit on the road on Monday. Photo / File

Businesses on Marine Parade say a lower speed limit on the road will help improve safety after pedestrian was hit crossing the road on Monday.

The crash, which moderately injured a boy, occurred outside Six Sisters cafe.

Staff member Robin Swindells said it appeared the child had run out and hit the back end of an oncoming car.

However, she said at the cafe they always heard drivers slamming on their brakes and tooting their horns to avoid hitting people on the crossing outside the cafe.

She said the side of the road where the accident happened was in the parking zone, which was currently 30km/h, although people tended to drive faster.

Branch Manager of Fiesta Pinoy Asian Shop, Rose Ceballos, said she often saw parked cars getting hit outside her shop.

She said her customers were about 50/50 as to whether they preferred the new layout compared to the old layout, where there was one lane either side of the medium barrier.

She said she liked the road, as it moved the heavy traffic away from her shop.

Volunteer at Arts on Parade, Stuart McKenzie, said the layout, with through-traffic on the ocean side and parking on the shops side, was better for them, as the heavy trucks driving past used to make their paintings crooked.

But people now drove along the road too fast, and it should be reduced to 30km/h on each side, he said.

He said he only volunteered at the shop for half a day each week, and said he had not seen any near-misses between pedestrians and cars on the road.

A Napier City Council spokesperson said it was unable to comment.

NCC is currently consulting with the public on whether to change the speed limit along Marine Parade to 30km/h from the 40km/h courtesy zone.