Near misses at road intersection

Emma Orchard, with daughter Zara, 4, and son Callum, 7, is worried about the actions of drivers at an intersection near Kapiti Primary School.

A Kapiti mother is concerned about drivers running yellow lights at a Kapiti Rd intersection after witnessing multiple near miss incidents involving school children.

Paraparaumu's Emma Orchard has witnessed five incidents this year where children walking to and from Kapiti Primary School were put in danger by cars running yellow and red lights.

The cars, she said, were travelling through the intersection despite the alert of the green walking man signal.

"It's scary because kids step out when they see the green man and if they're in deep conversation, they might not notice the cars still coming through."

According to Mrs Orchard, the crossing, located at the corner of Kapiti Rd and Larch Grove, is used by children from Arawhata Rd and surrounding areas, and many who walk alone.

"I worry so much that it'll be a kid getting hit soon, because we have to yank them back off the road sometimes.

"We're teaching the kids that even if the buzzer is going and the green man's showing, it's still not safe to cross until all the cars have stopped.

"But it's also the responsibility of the drivers to make sure they're taking precautions."

Multiple times, the mother of two had taken down licence plate numbers of drivers, which she had taken to local police.

"The police have visited people's houses and given them a verbal warning and told them they nearly hit a child.

"They're aware that a lot of people are running the lights and said it's of concern to them, and they do tend to follow it up.

"But they can't spend all their time following up these people."

Council infrastructure services group manager Sean Mallon said staff had been to the intersection to investigate Mrs Orchard's concerns this week.

"The traffic lights at the Kapiti Rd, Larch Grove and Brett Ambler Way intersection are designed to ensure the road works well for all road users.

"This includes facilitating a safe passage for pedestrians and cyclists across Kapiti Rd."

He said after visiting the site to investigate the concerns raised, it appeared there was an issue with phasing of the lights in relation to how it interacts with the pedestrian crossing button.

"We are working to fix this as quickly as possible."

Ms Orchard advised the public to take extra caution in the meantime, so "the next story isn't about a child being hit at the crossing".

"This particular intersection is one of the last sets of lights people come across when they come up Kapiti Rd, so I can understand their frustration at having to stop at all the red lights," she said.

"But it just happens to be the red light that people need to stop at because lots of kids are using the crossing to get to school.

"I just want drivers to be extra aware that they could be about to hit a child."