As it so often happens when we point out a stretch of the highway our readers tell us needs fixing, people are quick to take to Facebook saying there is nothing wrong with the road and that the fault rests with drivers.
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Predictably, this happened with our story about the highway south of Ulladulla, which has been the scene of many accidents over the years.
Prompted by a three-car accident last week, business operators Steve Smith and Rebecca Anderson have called for action to make the 80km/h zone between Burrill Lake and Ulladulla made safer.
Whether or not inattention has been at the root of the 20-odd accidents Steve has witnessed in the past 13 years is really not the point. What does matter is there is very little margin for error on that stretch of road, which is getting busier every year.
Most of the accidents are rear-enders into cars turning right off the highway. Rebecca and Steve want the stretch of highway widened with a turning lane in the middle. And in the interim they want to see a reduction in the speed limit.
One can understand why. Having helped so many people out of car wrecks over the years, racing out every time hears the screech of brakes and the terrible sound of a collision, Steve knows there’s a problem with this stretch of road. And knowing many of those people, the last thing he wants to confront is a fatality.
There is an urgency to the call her and Rebecca have made for an improvement. With new housing estates being built at Dolphin Point, there is only going to be an increase in traffic and, with it, a likely increase in accidents.
As with any call to reduce the speed limit, there were howls of disapproval. The reality of dropping it by 10 or 20km/h, however, would be negligible on the travel time between Burrill Lake and Kings Point. The benefits in terms of making the section of highway safer would far outweigh reduced travel time.
We would much rather see people arrive at their destinations a little later – we’re talking at most about a minute – than have their lives shattered in a crash.
Ideally, we want the whole highway made safer for everyone who uses it. That has been the intention of our FIX IT NOW campaign, which has been heard at the highest levels of the state and federal governments. Immediate issues need attention. This stretch of highway is one of them.
