29 May 2009

Police Wrap - 29 May

| johnboy
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1. Kambah Collision:

    ACT Policing is seeking witnesses to a collision which occurred on Namatjira Drive, Kambah overnight (May 28).

    About 10.30pm police received a report of a two vehicle head-on collision.

    A 55-year-old female was extricated by ACT Fire Brigade. Once removed, she was conveyed to the Canberra Hospital by ACT Ambulance with multiple injuries including fractures and possible head injuries. The injuries are not thought to be life threatening.

    The 32-year-old male driver of the second vehicle was taken to The Canberra Hospital with minor injuries.

    Anyone with information which may assist police with their investigations is urged to contact Crime Stoppers.

If you can help police Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000 or online.

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Yes Deckard, I had a few traffic matters to deal with when I was a younger man which eventually resulted in the loss of my licence for three months. I recognised I only had myself to blame, did the ‘time’ and was fortunate enough to learn through this experience rather through collisions. How do we impress our hindsight onto the new drivers in our society?

I live in one of the houses closest to this corner and accidents there are not uncommon. In fact, when I take the kids walking up My Arawang, which I do at least once a week, I always make them stand a good 10 feet back from the road when waiting to cross. Loads of People cut the corner when turning off Namatjira (coming from Fisher) while a few immature drivers think it’s a good road to ‘drift’ into. Not so funny when they hit the light-pole up near the corner, which I’ve seen happen three times.

dvaey said :

and just as Namatjira enters the 80 zone before the BMX track,

Namatjira Drive becomes 80k’s from just past the houses in Fisher & Sulwood Drive is 80k’s all the way to Erindale Drive. There is an advisory sign to do 65 or so around the corner.

I personally have had an accident on that stretch of road, but it was more the opposite of what happened here, I was driving too close to the edge of the road and just as Namatjira enters the 80 zone before the BMX track, the edges of the road are inconsistent. I had a wheel leave the road then clip and spin me around. Before anyone comments on it, the weather was poor and I was travelling at about 60km/hr, the weather conditions made the distance between the white line and the broken edge of the asphalt even harder to judge.

Maybe the driver(s) simply knew the edge of the road was soft and so remained more central to the roadway, hence making a headon more vulnerable.

Punter,

No, not that stupid anymore. But as an 18/19 yo with not much money, yes.

TP, your post sounds as though you know what may happen and adjust your driving style accordingly. I think that is what any government or police message is trying to get through to motorists. I think that is the true mark of a good driver.

Deckard, please tell me you don’t drive in the wet (or anytime) with bald tyres. I know it can be a measurable difference between a minor collision and tragedy.

When you’re driving into Kambah from Fisher it’s a tightish turn that tightens even more when you might not expect it. It can be a little hairy in the wet with bald tyres.

The bit that makes it dangerous for me is that when I come down there at late at night & it isn’t well lit, so you have cars coming the opposite way with there high beam lights on. There are also people that do cut the corner. So I’ll be driving along watching the road markings, while trying to avoid being hit. You will also have cars that want to turn right onto Kambah Pool Road that will enter the slip lane at the last minute & slam on their brakes, which makes me do the same.

It is interesting to note the road is often blamed as a ’cause of a collision’ however thousands of vehicles navigate the same sections of road throughout all conditions and at all times of the day and year without becoming unstuck. How many of us have driven past collisions at the same time of the day, in the same conditions without having a crash? I think when drivers involved in collisions who blame the road do so most commonly because they can’t face the fact they may be to blame.

TP 3000 said :

I would of thought they safest way would of been for Kambah Pool Road to be moved further to the west, so that it ran straight onto Namatjira Drive. Sulwood Drive would then enter this intersection at a T junction, thus eliminating the dangerous corner.

Sulwood Drive was actually planned to extend through to Hake Street, and Kambah Pool Road through to the Parkway. Doubt either of those would ever happen.

justbands said :

I’ve been driving around that corner for decades & have never thought it unsafe. How fast do you drive??

I personally have always been comfortable traveling around that bend at the recommended speed limit however I can see why people would find it so. It’s a bit of a deceptive corner that an inexperienced or idiotic driver could easily come to grief on. Then there’s the fact that a good number of people turning right into Kambah Pool Road or Sulwood Drive cut the corner.

justbands said :

> then I know that that big corner isn’t very safe.

I’ve been driving around that corner for decades & have never thought it unsafe. How fast do you drive??

around that corner? 60-75. in the dark, same.

> then I know that that big corner isn’t very safe.

I’ve been driving around that corner for decades & have never thought it unsafe. How fast do you drive??

I don’t believe it was at the intersection you are referring to (just near the BMX track) but was further up Namatjira Drive towards Fisher. They had the road blocked at the intersection you are referring to, and you could see all the activity much further up the road, well away from any intersections. Thats what I saw from the Tuggeranong Parkway anyway.

If this occurred when I think it did (Cooleman Court end of Kambah Pool Road intersection), then I know that that big corner isn’t very safe. I would of thought they safest way would of been for Kambah Pool Road to be moved further to the west, so that it ran straight onto Namatjira Drive. Sulwood Drive would then enter this intersection at a T junction, thus eliminating the dangerous corner.

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