Road-rage junction
LISA HONEYBONE
WRONG WAY: Problems have arisen at intersections since the give way rules changed.
A road-rage incident highlights problems caused by new give-way rules at a Glenfield junction says the victim's partner.
The driver was tail-gated and threatened after being chased from the busy intersection of Bentley Ave and Chartwell Ave.
The problem is that the new rules don't apply, causing misunderstandings, near-misses and delays on a daily basis.
A give-way sign on Chartwell Ave means drivers turning left into Bentley Ave towards Glenfield mall should give way to drivers turning right from Chartwell in to Bentley.
A woman, who was reluctant to give her name, says she and her husband were on their way home with their three children when the driver of the car that was supposed to give way thought he had right of way.
"After he nearly drove into us he proceeded to tail-gate us until we had to stop at a crossing where he got out and abused us, then tried to punch my husband in the face," she says.
"I shudder to think what would've happened if my husband hadn't been there and I had been driving." The woman says the man kept yelling that they were in the wrong and didn't know the new law.
Her husband offered to drive back down to the intersection with the other driver to explain to him that it is classed as a controlled intersection but he wasn't having a bar of it, she says.
North Shore police Senior Sergeant Mark Fergus says Auckland Transport is taking the lead on the issue and police are working with them.
He says the reason the give-way sign is there is to prevent a back-log of traffic up Chartwell Ave.
Mr Fergus says police don't like drivers getting upset or frustrated because it often leads to accidents.
Drivers giving way when turning left into Bentley Ave are doing the right thing and following the rules, he says.
Auckland Transport media liaison Mark Hannan says the intersection is one of three that are being monitored on the Shore. The other two are the corner of Victoria Rd and Calliope Rd in Devonport and Hauraki Corner in Takapuna.
No comments:
Post a Comment