Plastic road posts 'put lives at risk'

Emergency services fear that a trial of plastic median posts along a strip on State Highway 1 at Peka Peka will put lives at risk.

The New Zealand Transport Agency is installing a new southbound lane on a bend at Peka Peka north of Waikanae and plans to trial a 1.5 metre-wide painted median strip and install reflective flexible plastic poles, or flexiposts, every five metres.

Kapiti Medical Emergency Services director Chris Lane said trialling the new type of barrier at the accident blackspot was totally irresponsible.

"It is unethical and immoral to experiment with plastic posts when human lives are at stake. Whoever is allowing this should be personally made responsible and hauled over the coals when the inevitable injuries or deaths occur.

"Time and time again it has been shown that drivers only have to lose concentration for a couple of seconds to cross the centre line and collide with an oncoming vehicle. If there is a wire rope median barrier you get pushed back – little bits of plastic will do nothing to stop cars coming into contact with opposing traffic flows," Dr Lane said.

The wire rope median barrier along Centennial Highway, south of Paekakariki, had been hit by vehicles more than 22 times since it was installed in December 2004, potentially saving 50 lives, he said.

NZTA Wellington acting state highways manager Mark Owen said the highway at Peka Peka was the ideal location to trial the new system, which had been used in Hawke's Bay and proven successful.

"The passing lane is considered the ideal location to trial a new system of providing greater separation between opposing traffic flows by creating a visual barrier rather than a physical one."

The trial was intended to investigate improvements to highway safety compared with installing a median barrier system, Mr Owen said.

"While [wire rope] median barriers have proven successful in other parts of the corridor, it was impractical along this stretch of road."

The project is expected to be completed this month.

- © Fairfax NZ News