Luke Kirkness: Common sense required to make pedestrians safer

OPINION

How do we make our streets safer? It's a tough but important question to ask, and I believe a common-sense approach is needed.

Too often decisions are made that do not make sense — the ute tax for example.

Under the new Clean Car package scheme, rebates are handed out to buyers of imported new electric and plug-in hybrid vehicles. Meanwhile, buyers of higher-emission vehicles, like utes, will be taxed from January.

This nation relies on the gains of our agricultural sector and in many regions — none possibly more than here — on our tradies. Both heavily rely on utes, so why punish those we so greatly need?

On Monday, it was reported dozens of Bay of Plenty pedestrians had been injured and a handful killed after being involved in vehicle crashes over the past decade.

In Rotorua, 12 people were injured on both Clayton Rd and Fenton St. In Tauranga, on Cameron Rd, 28 people were injured and 11 on Maunganui Rd.

I have often wondered why many parents drive their children to school but with figures like those above, it's little surprise.

Cameron Rd, in busier, non-lockdown times. Photo / File

Back in my day (I'm trying hard not to sound like my grandfather), I crossed a busy state highway on my pushbike as a youngster on my way to school. I don't see many children ride their bikes to school nowadays, but some do.

My day wasn't as far back as my grandfather's but over both our lifetimes, vehicles have gotten bigger and faster. While safety improvements inside the car have improved over time, there is little protection — if any — for pedestrians and cyclists.

There are grand plans to make Cameron Rd safer for both, with Tauranga City Council lining up $60 million for its redevelopment. That's all good and well, but how many people actually walk or cycle along Cameron Rd? You may argue the numbers would greatly increase with added safety protections, but this is not being realistic.

What happens if the taxpayer forks out all this cash and nothing changes?

A cyclist uses the pink path in Auckland, away from the hustle and bustle of nearby vehicles. Photo / Dean Purcell

I think pedestrians and cyclists alike would be much safer on something like Auckland's Lightpath/Te Ara i Whiti. The pink path, as it's also known, is nowhere near any vehicles and provides a safe thoroughfare for pedestrians and cyclists alike to get into Auckland's CBD.

I'm not sure how much a project like this would cost or where paths like these could be built in our region's biggest towns and cities. However, with this nation's love of vehicles, it makes sense to me to remove their interaction with pedestrians and cyclists completely rather than just punishing the vehicle owner.