Why are safety improvements focused on motorcyclists needed for SH25 Northern Coromandel?

The 190km Northern Coromandel loop on SH25 between Thames and Hikuai is a popular route with motorcyclists because of the challenging ride it provides, but unfortunately it has a disproportionately high number of motorcyclist deaths and serious injuries.

Two percent of the vehicles that travel on the route are motorcycles, but for 2012–2016 motorcyclists represented 50 percent of all fatalities.

The goal of the project is to reduce the number of motorcyclists dying or being seriously injured on this route.

How many motorcyclists have been killed or seriously injured on this section of road?

For the period 2012–2016, three motorcyclists died and 6 were seriously injured on the route.

Where is the route?

The route includes the section of State Highway 25 from the intersection with SH26 and SH25A at Kopu around the top of the Coromandel Peninsula, to the intersection with SH25 at the eastern end of SH25A at Hikuai. View map [PDF, 1.2 MB]

What kind of safety improvements are being made?

The safety improvements include:

  • Motorcyclist-friendly safety barriers – to stop motorcyclists from hitting something harder like a tree, pole or ditch on the roadside with extra protection from the barrier posts.
  • Improvements to the road surface – to prevent riders coming off their bikes
  • Better signs – especially before sharp corners.
  • Drainage features made dome shaped – to be less of a hazard if hit by a motorcyclist
  • Sealing rural property entrances – to prevent loose gravel from straying into the path of riders on the road
  • Rescue helicopter landing sites – for getting injured motorcyclists to medical attention sooner

Innovative road markings around deceptive curves, were installed earlier this year and will be evaluated.

When will the safety improvements be completed?

All work should be completed by mid-December 2017.

How do you know these kinds of improvements are going to be successful?

A number of the initiatives being used have been in place on the Southern Coromandel loop since 2014 and have been successful in raising motorcyclists’ awareness of the hazards on the route and have received positive feedback from motorcyclists.

What has been learned from the safety improvements focused at motorcyclists to the Southern Coromandel loop?

The safety improvements made on the Southern Coromandel loop was the first time a project of this type focused on motorcyclists had been applied to New Zealand roads.

Learnings from the Coromandel pilot have been applied to improving roads and roadsides in the Northern Coromandel as well as other high-risk route motorcycle routes throughout the country.

Are motorcyclists supportive of these improvements?

Motorcyclist groups were involved in the original pilot. The Safer Rides project has received positive feedback from motorcyclists who appreciate their point of view being applied to road design.

What is the summer motorcycle education campaign going to focus on?

Reminding riders to ‘keep their head in the game’ and giving the road their full attention, particularly given the challenging nature of the route.
The campaign with include advertising, riding tips along the route and information in motorcycle shops and online.

What is Safer Rides about?

Safer Rides is a multi-agency project aimed at improving motorcycle safety along the scenic Coromandel loop, popular with recreational motorcyclists.

The project is trialing and monitoring a series of safety improvements aimed at reducing the number and severity of motorcycle crashes on the route.

Successful initiatives can be shared to help improve safety for motorcyclists throughout the country.

Where does the project fit in the Government’s wider Road Safety Strategy?

Improving motorcycle safety is one of the top five priorities in Safer Journeys, New Zealand’s Road Safety Strategy 2010-2020. This strategy adopts the safe system approach and recognises that people make mistakes on our roads, and that the human body has a limited ability to withstand crash forces.

Given that mistakes are inevitable, the road system should protect people from death and serious injury by focusing on four key elements – safe roads and roadsides; safe speeds; safe vehicles and safe road use.

What else is being done on roads in other regions to improve motorcycle safety?

Learnings from the Coromandel pilot have been applied to improving roads and roadsides in other high-risk route motorcycle routes for example wide edgelines and motorcyclist-friendly barriers.