Before being directed on our way by a local member of the fire police who was doing traffic control while emergency services tended to the critically injured, I mentioned I'd seen a couple of roadside crosses on the stretch, before arriving at the crash site.
I'd also seen a lot of double yellow lines and some looked freshly applied - clearly misjudged overtaking had been an issue there.
"Lot of crashes here," I said.
"For some reason or another," he replied.
Yes, for some reason or another.
Crashes are not accidents. They are anything but accidental.
There is a cause, and apart from the small number involving a medical condition or where a mechanical part of the vehicle may fail, that cause is human.
We have a share of "bad roads" in Hawke's Bay ... You see the crosses and flowers and you read the crash reports.
Farndon Rd has had more than its share, and I was interested to scroll through the texts received about why this should be.
The human factor rose to the top.
Errors in driving "for some reason or another".
I have made errors in driving and three of them resulted in visiting hospitals, because motorcycles are rather unforgiving when you edge over the mark and part company with the things ... although I still love them!
Except that these days my throttle hand is way more constrained.
There was nothing wrong with the roads I chose to err upon. There is nothing wrong with any road.
It may be a cliche, but the standard line issued from police is as good as it gets ... Drive to the conditions.
At pace, on an open road, any slight diverting of the eyes or attention can hurt ... I can assure you of that.
Roads are fine. Narrow ones, winding ones, uneven ones and badly lit ones.
It is quite simply how the driver of the vehicle upon that road chooses to traverse it.
Despite the repeated publicity, sadly (but realistically) I would not place a bet on Farndon Rd, or any other "bad road", dragging another vehicle from the safety of the tarseal and into the scrap-metal yard in the near future.
