Close call after vehicle failed to stop because signs removed

A fatality waiting to happen - that’s how the deliberate targeting of road signs in a Canterbury district has been described.

Glentunnel resident and father-of-two David Craig was driving along Bealey Rd last week when he had a scary near miss.

He said a driver failed to stop at the sign on Coaltrack Rd and passed a metre away from him travelling at high speed.

"I actually s**t myself.

"The car just went straight through, obviously they did not realise the stop sign had been taken down.

"Also the yellow lines are all faded there so you can’t really see them,” Craig said.

He said both stop signs on either side of the road had been taken out.

This is not the first set of signs he has noticed being taken out.

“There are loads of them all over the place.”

Selwyn District Council head of operational delivery Gareth Morgan said over 150 signs have been damaged in recent weeks in the Malvern area.

Of those, 90 per cent are either stop, give way, or curve and intersection warning signs.

On an annual basis, an average of fewer than 10 signs require replacement due to vandalism, incurring repair costs of approximately $2000.

So far the current spate of vandalism has cost ratepayers $30,000.

“Beyond the financial impact, damaged signs pose a significant risk to road users who rely on them for crucial safety information,” Morgan said.

Craig reported the incident to the police. When he drove home later that day he noticed the signs had been repaired.

Morgan said the council is now short on replacement posts.

“Due to the high volume of damaged signs and the limited supply of new posts, many signs are being temporarily reinstated using the damaged posts.

“While this may appear as a suboptimal solution, it ensures that the signs remain visible until our contractors can return with new posts and, in some instances, new signs,” Morgan said.

In 2013, Gordon Clifford Chapman, 76, was killed at the same intersection where Craig had his near miss.

Chapman missed the stop sign, colliding with an oncoming car.

In the district intersection crashes make up over 57 per cent of all local road crashes.

Hororata Community Trust executive officer Cindy Driscoll said the community is concerned by the recent felling of signs, which she said has been happening since before Christmas.

Driscoll said the trust is currently fundraising to install CCTV cameras.

Morgan said they are working with police, but said identifying the vandals remains a “challenging task”.

To report sign damage, contact 0800 SELWYN (735 996), or use the Snap Send Solve App. If you witness damage taking place or know information about potential vandals please report it to police.