Deathtrap for cyclists Read more
Christchurch’s southern motorway roadworks are being described as a ‘‘deathtrap’’ after a cyclist was hit by a truck and died in Springs Rd, Halswell yesterday. The circumstances of the latest fatality are similar to two earlier cyclist deaths in the city
TURNING TRUCK
Christchurch’s southern motorway roadworks have been labelled ‘‘deathtraps’’ after a truck driver killed a cyclist while turning into a construction site.
The indcident took place in a 30kmh roadworks site on Springs Rd, Halswell, about 8am. Construction firm Downer is building a motorway overbridge opposite the site.
A workman at the scene said the northbound cyclist was crossing over the entrance of the site when the truck, headed the same way, turned left and hit them.
Signs leading up to the fatal scene warn motorists to take ‘‘extreme care’’ due to cyclists merging and trucks crossing.
There is a fenced gravel footpath along Springs Rd, which has a break in it at the work site entrance, but Stuff has been unable to establish if the cyclist was on the path or the road.
The roadworks site was closed for the day. The New Zealand Transport Agency, which is managing the project, was offering support to workers. WorkSafe was making ‘‘initial inquiries’’.
Prebbleton resident David Dally cycles through motorway roadworks on nearby Shands Rd almost daily and described them as a ‘‘deathtrap’’.
He said he noticed the lack of space given to cyclists almost as soon as work began. ‘‘I ... suggested to the traffic workers that surely a cyclist could die due to there being no room to move,’’ Dally said.
‘‘It got to a point where I just started avoiding the road and tried to find my own detours. One day I took a shortcut through the road workers’ area and they yelled out ‘are you lost mate?’ to which I replied, ‘just trying to stay alive boys’.’’
Despite being an experienced cyclist, Dally said he always felt anxious when trying to navigate through the works.
‘‘Trucks come through there all the time. There’s so little room that if you even wobble or hit a stone on your bike you’re suddenly in the middle of moving traffic,’’ he said. ‘‘In my opinion, it looked like a deathtrap from the very beginning of the project.’’
The circumstances of the latest fatality are similar to two earlier cyclist deaths in the city.
In September 2014, tourist cyclist Ming Chih Hsieh, 33, died when a truck crushed him at the Carmen Rd–Waterloo Rd intersection in Hornby. Hsieh was in a cycle lane on the left of the truck, in the driver’s blind zone. The driver, David Connell, failed to check, wait, and give way before turning left and crushed Hsieh as he went to cycle straight.
In April 2014, 22-year-old nursing student Sharla Haerewa was killed on Lincoln Rd when she was crushed beneath 75-year-old John Williams Herridge’s truck as he made a left turn. Haerewa had front and rear lights operating on her bike and a red light on her back. She had a fluorescent cover on her backpack.
Herridge pleaded guilty to careless driving, was ordered to pay $10,000 in reparations to Haerewa’s family and was disqualified from driving for eight months.