Pushing the limits and reining them in
Afew longhaul missions up the West Coast, over to the east coast and back down the Mainland’s middle highways recently, have left me shaking my head at some of the driving antics we encountered.
A car stopped in the middle of the road, with the driver out taking photos. A car crossing the centre line, with the driver swerving back on to the correct side and guiltily lowering the phone that had been distracting them. A car ignoring a red light at road works and heading out into unseen oncoming traffic. Probably sounds all too familiar to Drivesouth readers, who have more than likely experienced similar scenarios on their travels.
Returning home to Wanaka, matters didn’t improve greatly. Campervans not pulling over and trailing up to 10 cars behind them as they lumber over the Crown Range at 50kmh. Watching tourists struggling to master roundabouts — and failing. Sigh. Same old, same old.
At least the Queenstown Lakes District Council is aware of the problems posed by the increased traffic on our region’s roads and has introduced five changes to speed limits around the district from this week.
They will see a speed limit of 40kmh enforced within Arrowtown’s urban boundary. Albert Town’s busy Aubrey Rd also washes off 10kmh — scrubbing the current 70kmh speed to 60kmh.
Other areas wipe 20kmh off their previous limits. These are Queenstown's Gorge Road (from Coronet Peak junction to Watties track junction) and Peninsula Rd in Kelvin Heights, which both drop from 70kmh down to 50kmh; plus, Cardrona Valley Rd from the township to the distillery (100kmh to 80kmh).
Other problem areas are up for speedlimit review, including Wanaka’s urban areas, Ballantyne Rd, Beacon Point Rd, Mt Aspiring Rd, Lake Hawea’s Cemetery Rd and the Arrowtown town centre. The QLDC will announce details of how the public can take part in the consultation shortly.
From lowering speed to a highspeed heroine, I chatted to Womens’ World Motocross Champion Courtney Duncan this week as she left her Dunedin base for England, where she will rejoin her British Kawasaki Dixon Race Team. As focused as ever, she was putting in the hard yards training for the sixround WMX season, which begins on March 1 in England.
She’d done a fair bit of travelling over November and December, including a trip to Monaco to be officially presented with her 2019 FIM World Championship medal at a glittering ceremony. Once she settled in back at home, Duncan spent her first summer in three years not on the couch recovering from an injury that had cost her the world championship silverware, but soaking up her victory and enjoying time with friends and family instead.
Monster Energy has just released a minidoco on her, entitled Girl on Fire (search for it on YouTube), which follows our Otago wonder girl’s journey of dedication and details all she has achieved. Complete with slowmo jumping past flames footage on her motorbike, it’s well worth a watch.