The death of four cows from a vehicle accident has led to calls for a review of the safety of the road in question.
Just before 10pm on Tuesday, August 18 a 23-year-old male driver drove through a fence on Beaconsfield Road.
The driver, who has a valid New Zealand restricted license, says he found the area of road to be "misleading and poorly laid out". He adds that the next day while repairing the fence, he witnessed several other close calls, with some drivers stopping to tell him of their near miss experiences on that road themselves.
Jagdeep Singh, roading manager for Stratford District Council (SDC), says the Council investigates vehicle accidents in the district where the quality of the road has been named as a cause.
"We have run through the process of the accident on Beaconsfield Road and there is no problem with the geometry of the road."
He adds, "there are a vast number of factors that contribute in a vehicle accident and in this instance it is highly unlikely the road is what triggered the accident".
Jagdeep says that the District Council do not have the authority to change the speed limit on Beaconsfield Road and while the corner is currently signposted by a curve advisory sign and the Council will review whether a speed recommendation should be added to the advisory sign.
Sven Hanne, director of assets at the SDC, says once a year the roading engineers work through the police database of vehicle accidents in the district and analyse each accident.
"This process is to identify whether or not the road was a factor in the accident and what improvements need to be made."
Sven adds that the SDC and police database only include accidents that have been reported to the police, and therefore encourages people to report accidents when they occur.
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