On Wednesday about 4pm, a pedestrian was taken to Dunedin Hospital in a moderate condition after being struck by a vehicle travelling along State Highway 1 near Waitati.
The speed limit of that section of SH1 is 100kmh.
Dunedin city councillor and Waitati resident Mandy Mayhem said the crash most likely happened when the bus came to drop off schoolchildren outside the On the Spot store opposite the Waitati Village.
"It’s crossing the highway when coming off the bus where the issue is — it’s my understanding that [on Wednesday] it was schoolchildren crossing the road after the drop-off."
Crossing the road had been an issue for many years, and the crash led to an uptake of Waitati parents supporting the cause.
"I think they will elevate this as high as they possibly can to get some action — they know this could have been anybody’s child and want something to be done to address this."
Waitati parents had asked why the bus could not pull into the village, thereby stopping school-aged children crossing the busy highway, which would benefit children, the elderly and the less abled.
"When I cross the road there, I run — it’s scary," Cr Mayhem said.
She said it was hard to see cars coming around the corners from both sides, making it hard for pedestrians to cross and for motorists to pull on to SH1.
"We have had quite a few elderly people have accidents when pulling out, just simply because of the speed people are coming around the corner at.
"They just come out of nowhere and sneak up on you.
"You have to accelerate and, if you go, you’ve got to go with conviction or a car is going to come hurtling around the corner," Cr Mayhem said.
Lowering the speed limit had been on the community board’s agenda for seven years and the petition had existed for just as long, but so far nothing had changed.
