A loud bang and then mayhem

Cyclists Nick Wilson (left) and Karl Hancock near the scene of the accident between a group of cyclists and a car. Photo / Glenn Jeffrey

When Winifred Squirrell heard a loud bang, she turned to see the mayhem of injured cyclists scattered across the road and gutter outside her waterfront home in St Heliers, Auckland.

Mrs Squirrell, aged 81, was having a cup of tea in an upstairs room when the collision occurred on Saturday morning between a car and a group of cyclists, leaving four riders injured, one critically.

Her house overlooks the crash site, where Tamaki Drive becomes Vale Rd and Cliff Rd joins through a stop sign.

Witnesses said the car was turning from Cliff Rd into Tamaki Drive, slowed briefly, then accelerated into the cyclists. The cyclists were riding from Tamaki Drive into Vale Rd, away from the waterfront.

Mrs Squirrell estimated there were 50 cyclists in the group. "I just heard this tremendous smash then a yell. He [the critically injured cyclist] came right over to the gutter here," said Mrs Squirrell, pointing to the road edge about 10m from her front window.

"My husband called the ambulance and police. They were working on them for about an hour [before] they were taken off to hospital. The road was closed for three hours.

"I feel sorry for the young girl [the driver] ... she looked most distressed. I don't know whether she panicked. It really is a danger spot."

Cyclists and motorists frequently find fault with each other over how they share Tamaki Drive, one of the city's most popular cycling routes. The Herald asked drivers and cyclists at the crash site yesterday about how to reduce the conflict.

Cyclists suggested reducing the speed limit and the introduction of on-road painted cycle lanes; drivers opposed both ideas.

Cyclists Nick Wilson, a teacher from Ellerslie, and Karl Hancock, a civil engineer from Onehunga, both aged 33, said the speed limit should be reduced to 40km/h.

Mr Hancock said that because Tamaki Drive was such a heavily used cycle route, it should be set up with road rules and infrastructure to reflect and reinforce the concept - "get the traffic in the right frame of mind".

Cyclist and triathlete Gary Rhind-Eglese, aged 44, a technician from Howick, favoured cycle lanes, even if they entailed the loss of some on-road car parking space.

A Mission Bay man who regularly drives on Tamaki Drive - he declined to be named - said reducing the speed limit would not help because the traffic was already frequently forced by the volume of vehicles to drive at less than 50km/h. He said there was too little space for on-road cycle lanes. Making room by reducing car-parking would make things worse by increasing parking pressure in side streets.

Cyclists' behaviour in large groups frustrated drivers, he said, particularly closer to the city, where there were two traffic lanes in each direction.

"They take up enough room that you have to change lanes. It nullifies the left lane."