Aaron Simms’ fence that was built just three years ago has become a patchwork quilt of repair jobs after yet another car ploughed through it last week, missing his home by centimetres.
It’s not the first time a vehicle has failed to take the turn from Marsden Valley Rd onto The Ridgeway; a Hilux also careening onto the property in 2017.
Aaron’s neighbour has also had cars smash through their fence on two separate occasions during the same time period. It is understood the previous residents also had similar issues.
Now, Aaron wants Nelson City Council to install some protection, such as bollards, along the roadside in front of the two affected properties as a short-term solution to protect his family while a long-term solution is worked through.
“That’s almost one a year, which is crazy,” he says of the serious incidents, which luckily didn’t leave anyone with serious injuries this time.
But Aaron says it could’ve been different and worries about letting his two young children out to play in the front yard, as does his wife Lyrus.
“We realise that the whole intersection is a danger, there are a lot of different issues. You’re pretty much taking a gamble every time,” he says of crossing the intersection.
The couple had just got to sleep when the car smashed through their fence and dropped the few metres onto their front lawn, taking out their garden and coming to rest against the edge of a bedroom shortly before midnight last Tuesday.
Both Aaron, Lyrus and their four-year-old were woken instantly as were the residents surrounding them.
“We even had people come up from Taupata St on their bikes.”
Aaron says talks with council have been positive and he understands they are developing plans for the intersection including how to make it safer for pedestrians. A lot of the plans however are long-term solutions. Aaron wants to see the installation of railings or bollards in front of their homes.
“They definitely haven’t said no, so we’re not complaining about that. But we would like to see what other people’s experiences have been.
“For me, the main issue is that now there’s evidence of this happening, I want to get proactive. I think there will be a good outcome, it’s more if you don’t say anything, nothing will happen.”
The Simms family want to hear from others, particularly past residents, about their experience with the intersection to help build a better picture to assist their talks with council.
