{"id":593540,"date":"2026-09-08T04:12:14","date_gmt":"2026-09-08T04:12:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/593540\/"},"modified":"2026-09-08T04:12:14","modified_gmt":"2026-09-08T04:12:14","slug":"32-crashes-in-six-years-tauranga-roundabout-to-get-improvements","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/593540\/","title":{"rendered":"32 crashes in six years: Tauranga roundabout to get improvements"},"content":{"rendered":"

A Tauranga roundabout will get safety improvements after nearly three dozen crashes in six years.<\/p>\n

By Ayla Yeoman of Local Democracy Reporting <\/p>\n

But a resident who has had to fix his fence four times<\/a> is “somewhat sceptical” that the changes will make any difference.<\/p>\n

There have been 32 crashes at the roundabout intersecting Waihi Rd, Ot\u016bmoetai Rd and Cambridge Rd in Judea since 2020 \u2013 and most have been caused by driver behaviour.<\/p>\n

Tauranga City Council is introducing measures to cut speed through the roundabout. Higher speeds had been identified as a problem, especially from the Waihi Rd west approach.<\/p>\n

Transport strategy and assurance manager Karen Hay said the investigation found the roundabout’s signs and road markings met standards and clearly indicated give-way requirements.<\/p>\n

Crashes were mainly linked to “driver decision-making”.<\/p>\n

\"The<\/p>\n

The damage caused to Chris Brazendale’s fence from the most recent crash. (Source: Local Democracy Reporting)<\/p>\n

However, the council would introduce two lanes on the Waih\u012b Rd west approach, install limit lines at the Waihi Rd pedestrian crossing, and refresh road markings throughout the roundabout.<\/p>\n

The proposed two-lane layout aimed to slow drivers down, reducing the chance of crashes and helping traffic move through the intersection more smoothly.<\/p>\n

The limit lines at the crossing would indicate where drivers should stop.<\/p>\n

They would be set back from the crossing so drivers stop far enough away to clearly see pedestrians and pedestrians could see traffic had stopped before they used the crossing.<\/p>\n

These changes are expected to be completed next month.<\/p>\n

A Local Democracy Reporting Official Information Request to NZ Transport Agency Waka Kotahi (NZTA) found there had been 32 crashes at the roundabout since 2020.<\/p>\n

Two resulted in serious injuries and seven caused minor injuries.<\/p>\n

NZTA said of the 54 contributing factors to the crashes, 23 were failing to give way or stop, 17 were poor observation and four were proven instances of alcohol involvement.<\/p>\n

It said 14 crashes occurred around the Ot\u016bmoetai Rd exit and 10 occurred on the eastern Waihi Rd exit.<\/p>\n

\"Judea<\/p>\n

Judea resident Chris Brazendale says in the 16 years he has lived at his house, cars have crashed into his fence four times. (Source: Local Democracy Reporting)<\/p>\n

Judea resident Chris Brazendale has lived on the corner of the roundabout for 16 years, and motorists have crashed into his fence four times.<\/p>\n

Brazendale spoke to Local Democracy Reporting at the time of the fourth incident in August.<\/p>\n

He said the number of crashes reported by NZTA roughly matched what he assumed, and the council had contacted him about the planned changes.<\/p>\n

“It’s better than nothing, but I have to say, I am somewhat sceptical as to whether it will make much difference.”<\/p>\n

Western Bay of Plenty area road policing manager Senior Sergeant Wayne Hunter said police encouraged safe and alert driving at all times.<\/p>\n

He recommended avoiding distractions, driving within the speed limit and not driving impaired.<\/p>\n

He said alcohol and drugs were a factor in about a third of all crashes. <\/p>\n

“If you’re under the influence, don’t drive at all.”<\/p>\n

Local Democracy Reporting is local-body journalism co-funded by RNZ and NZ On Air.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A Tauranga roundabout will get safety improvements after nearly three dozen crashes in six years. By Ayla Yeoman…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":593541,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[111,43,139,69,1756,112],"class_list":["post-593540","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-new-zealand","tag-new-zealand","tag-news","tag-newzealand","tag-nz","tag-tauranga-bay-of-plenty","tag-transport"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/593540","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=593540"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/593540\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/593541"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=593540"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=593540"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=593540"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}