After witnessing near-misses at the red courtesy crossings down Thames’ main drag, the local business association is calling on council to make the markings safer.
The crossings were installed across Mary and Pollen Sts in 2021 as part of pedestrian safety improvements for the former Create the Vibe public space. However, a Thames Business Association spokesperson said they’ve heard of near-misses occurring at the crossings since they were put in place.
“We decided a few weeks ago to try and monitor the situation and determine how many times people and cars nearly collided. It’s hard to quantify; however, I’d suggest that the majority of people using those crossings have no idea what a courtesy crossing is – either the pedestrian or the driver,” the spokesperson told The Profile.
“To be fair, most people don’t drive fast along Pollen St; however, when they do, and neither party knows how to behave in a courtesy crossing, you’re facing a potential risk of someone getting hurt. Our belief is that if it’s not a ‘regular’ looking crosswalk, it’s presenting an unnecessary risk.”
According to Waka Kotahi New Zealand Transport Agency, courtesy crossings are intended to “facilitate eye contact between pedestrians and drivers, resulting in a mutually negotiated position over who goes first”.
Drivers were not required to stop at courtesy crossings; however the official New Zealand road code recommended that drivers be courteous to pedestrians using or waiting to use a courtesy crossing.
To aid in avoiding confusion and making the road safer for both driver and pedestrian, the business association hoped to see the red stripes made safer.
“And if that means removing the red crossings, we hope [council] will do that,” the spokesperson said. “Then the onus is on the pedestrians to proceed only when safe to do so.”
After monitoring the crossing, and witnessing near-misses, the business association put in a service request to Thames-Coromandel District Council, forwarding that request to Thames ward councillors.
One of the councillors to respond was Martin Rodley, and he told The Profile that the matter of the four courtesy crossings at the Mary and Pollen St intersection had been raised “a number of times” since they were first introduced.
“My main question would be whether it is safer to not have them at all and instead rely on pedestrians waiting for a suitable break in traffic – and also remembering that here in Thames we have the highest percentage of folk aged over 65,” he said.
“A common theme of the lots of feedback that I received about the Create the Vibe space, from both people who liked and didn’t like the space, was that at least it made crossing that intersection safer – especially Mary St between ANZ and Stirling Sports.”
Cr Rodley said he didn’t have any figures about accidents or near misses before or after the red stripes went in, but that he was aware of the business association’s request to council.
“Our roading team will look at that carefully as soon as they can,” he said.
BY KELLEY TANTAU
