$200 offered for return of roadside safety mirror

Bob Leigh-Mackenzie and Rex McQuinn say the mirror gave them about 200m visibility, which reduces to 50m without it. Photo / John Stone

Bob Leigh-Mackenzie, 73, has to wait at the end of his driveway, mute the radio and turn off his car to hear if it is safe to leave his property.

That is because last Friday someone stole a safety mirror that was bolted to a pole he used to see around a dangerous bend near his Pipiwai Rd property.

Mr Leigh-Mackenzie and neighbour Rex McQuinn paid about $900 to have it installed five years ago. After moving to the area a couple of years earlier, both became increasingly concerned about being hit by a car while pulling out of their shared driveway.

They are now offering a $200 reward to anyone who returns it, no questions asked. The round mirror was on a pole opposite their shared driveway and it would have taken a decent effort to steal it, Mr Leigh-Mackenzie said.

"What they are going to use it for I don't know," he said. "It's a bit big for a bathroom mirror and it's convex."

The mirror had given them at least 200m visibility, which was reduced 50m at the most without it.

"It's an 80km/h area but I don't think everybody is doing 80," Mr Leigh-Mackenzie said.

They were "gutted" someone had gone to the effort to steal the mirror.

"We're concerned for our own safety as well as other people," he said. "The way it is at the moment it's very dangerous."

Ironically, the theft happened during Road Safety Week, Mr McQuinn said.