By Adam Hollingworth
Police are appealing for witnesses after a drag race on a main highway in South Auckland led to a horrendous smash.
A man was put on life support after the accident, which occurred around 7pm last night on Te Irirangi Drive – where the Manukau Council had just raised the speed limit.
The man is still in critical condition however police say if he takes a turn for the worse, it may become a homicide investigation.
Local residents say three cars raced over the brow of the hill but one car, a Mitsubishi Galant, failed to negotiate the tight bent – uprooting one palm tree and wrapping itself around the next.
“To get the driver out of the car they ripped off the door and pulled him down to the ground,” says resident Olita Moka. “All I could see was blood on his face.”
Police are appealing for the driver of a white car to come forward, but witnesses say the owner of the third car helped.
“All I heard him say was ‘hang in there mate, they’re on their way’,” says Ms Moka.
Locals say Te Irirangi Drive has claimed at least seven lives in as many years, with one saying she has witnessed four accidents in the same spot.
But the boy racers keep coming back.
“Sometimes during the daytime, sometimes night-time too – especially Thursday, Friday and Saturday nights, they’re the worst,” says resident Pratibha Ward.
Manukau City Council has just raised the speed limit on Te Irirangi Drive to 60kmph, but officials say that made no difference to last night’s crash.
“We’ll wait for the police accident report, but nine times out of 10 in these instances we find that people have been travelling well in excess of any posted speed,” says Chris Freke of Manukau City Council.
The serious crash unit is still piecing together what went on and how fast the drivers were going.
Residents have been calling for speed bumps along Te Irirangi Drive, or at the very least, barriers along the side of the road to keep their children safe in their yards.
But the council says speed bumps aren’t a serious possibility on a road that carriers 30,000 to 40,000 vehicles a day and barriers are little use, and most accidents happen at night when families are in bed.
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