Editorial: When your bum is left hanging out

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I hate leaving my bum hanging out. For seconds that seem far longer, you are exposed and vulnerable.

This is road safety awareness week and we are, of course, discussing road safety.

Rear-end collisions are potentially a nasty type of traffic accident.

One set of stats, for example, cites that 15 per cent of children killed in traffic accidents were in vehicles that were hit from behind.

There are a few tricky Whanganui intersections that spring to mind. No doubt you will have your own.

Exiting the Dublin St Bridge on the east side is my personal danger zone.

With a decline as you come off the bridge, drivers often misjudge their speed and drive too fast.

That's not a problem unless there is a car making a left turn and is part way into its manoeuvre when a pedestrian steps out on to the crossing. Am I alone in thinking these should be shunted 10 metres further away?

Seconds hang like minutes when you are this driver. Being rear-ended is no fun and your attention is equally split between the pedestrian ahead and the cars zipping off the bridge behind you.

Around school times, the complex arrangement is made all the more stressful as kids shoot off the cycleway exit at speeds that would probably earn them a speeding ticket if they were clocked.

Often they will shoot straight ahead and if you're planning a left turn as you exit the bridge, you now have to look over your other shoulder as well as at the cars behind you and the pedestrians who might be in front – all the while trying to exit on a sharp decline.

Let's hear about your danger zone intersections — even being aware of them may help prevent a nasty accident.