Crash 'hot spots' named

South Christchurch roads feature prominently in the latest list of local traffic danger spots, prompting police to warn motorists of what to be alert for this year.

The Barrington St-State Highway 73 intersection was Canterbury's worst for serious accidents, with five crashes and six people seriously injured.

And the Moorhouse Ave-Selwyn St intersection topped the list for minor crashes with seven, ahead of two more Observer area corners - Linwood Ave-Buckleys Rd with six and Barrington-SH73 tying for third with Bealey Ave-Park Tce, both with five.

Also well up on the black list was the Lincoln Rd-Nairn St corner, where there were two serious injuries last year.

Canterbury road policing manager Inspector Al Stewart said about half the crashes in the region were at intersections, and distraction was often the cause.

That was compounded in situations like some of the south Christchurch hot spots, where drivers travelled at different speeds on the intersecting roads, and where there were multiple lanes.

Quite often motorists hadn't planned their trip or their way through an intersection, and made last-minute lane changes. Police were concerned about any intersection where there were multiple crashes, and worked with their partner agencies to see what could be done to improve them.

The worst black spot, Barrington-SH73, was multiple-laned and carried high volumes of traffic, he pointed out.

"I think at some of these larger high-volume intersections, people are more prone to take chances," he said.

Drivers got impatient sitting in traffic and poor decisions could led to crashes in just a moment.

South Christchurch had a lot of intersections and a lot of multiple lanes, variable speeds, and high volume traffic, he said. "It's all about getting there safely rather than fast."

While Nairn St might seem an anomaly on the accident list, Inspector Stewart said there were high volumes of traffic on Lincoln Rd which it joined. It was a small feeder road into Lincoln Rd, and it had to be looked at holistically.

Inspector Stewart gave notice that police would be giving close attention to drink driving and the wearing of seat belts again this year, since analysis of the last 24 months showed they were both still concerns.

"Over 30 per cent of the fatalities would have been prevented if people had been wearing seat belts," he said. "About 11 people would be with us today if they'd been wearing seat belts."

He also had a special warning for drivers approaching intersections too fast.

Police were finding, especially on roundabouts, people coming into corners far too fast, and slamming on their brakes at the last minute if they had to.

It was the wrong way to approach intersections and drivers should give themselves a better chance approaching them, and slow down.