Bulls RSA struck once again
Club is a crash hotspot for drivers missing a slight bend on SH1
A Returned and Services’ Association club that acts like a magnet for motorists who fail to navigate a gentle righthand bend has cemented its reputation as a crash hotspot.
The Bulls RSA was the scene of another crash, believed to be at least the ninth at the venue, on Monday night.
The latest smash left a support beam buckled when a blue van left the road. In the most serious crash at the spot a truck driver died in 2012.
Caught on the club’s security camera, the van can be seen travelling towards Bulls on State Highway 1 at 9.45pm on Monday, before crashing into the beam, sending a rubbish bin flying and leaving a crater where the vehicle struck.
The driver didn’t appear to slow or swerve as the van drifted from the road.
He was taken to Whanganui Hospital with moderate injuries after limping from the vehicle, holding his stomach.
Club president Alistair Stewart, 66, watched the as the police tape cordoning off the veranda flapped in the breeze yesterday.
There wasn’t much the club could do about the latest crash other than fix the damage and move on, he said.
‘‘We’re a crash-hot club. This is our home. We just accept it and hope we never have another fatality.’’
The club has a history of bearing the brunt of distracted and fatigued drivers ploughing into the building. Some leave behind minor damage, while others have left the RSA in ruins.
Dannevirke truck driver Fredrick Thomas Nathan, 37, crashed into the building and died in 2012 when he fell into a ‘‘micro sleep’’, according to a coroner’s report.
The truck crashed through a street light and veranda, finally stopping with its cab smashed through the front of the RSA.
Another truck blew through the building’s veranda in 2017, forcing a facelift for the club, which was completed in 2018.
Two people in the truck were uninjured in the incident.
At least seven other motorists have crashed into the veranda or the side of the building, with the street light to the right being permanently removed due to vehicles wiping it out.
Previously, rumble strips were used to alert vehicles to the curve of the street, but since resealing the early warning had gone, Stewart said.
‘‘Just a different texture in the road surface to make a noise change would make a difference.’’
Stewart said many travellers ignored the speed change 800 metres from the club, where the stretch shifts from 100kmh to 50kmh.
The club could move the building back to avoid its usual clashes with motorists, but that wouldn’t solve the crash rate – and the RSA acted as a bollard for other businesses.
Ken Graham, 64, owner of neighbouring collectable shop Dad and Dave’s, said the RSA bore the brunt of the crashes, but there wasn’t much that could be done about people’s driving.
‘‘Crikey, it’s a part of being right on the corner,’’ Graham said.
‘‘The poor old RSA, they get the worst of it. [There’s] no point in being worried. I’m not worried.’’
The club reconstructed the building for about $200,000 after the crash in 2017, with an excess of $1000 that was reclaimed through the driver’s insurance.
But with more crashes bound to happen, Stewart was concerned the excess and premiums would continue to rise.