When is it time to do something about a known slippery road?

Accidents and near misses continue to happen on a regular basis on the northbound lanes of the Princes Highway before the Weir Street exit, particularly when it is wet.

Authorities say the corner is safe, with no need to upgrade, but locals disagree. Contact the Member for Kiama, Gareth Ward, to add your weight to calls to get the corner fixed.

“It is one of our most frequent callout locations for motor vehicle accidents,” says the Captain of the Gerringong Rural Fire Brigade, Adam Walmsley.

“About three years ago there were four or five crashes in one day there.”

Jonathan Weinberg has used his emergency response vehicle and his military medical experience to assist at many accidents there.

He took the picture above of an accident he assisted at on the last weekend of January, which resulted in a written off Toyota Camry (below) and a badly damaged Nissan Nivara.

“In the words of the ambulance driver, ‘Hey mate, we might as well hang around for the next few hours because there is definitely going to be another one today’,” says Mr Weinberg.

While an expert driver, he says there has been times when even his vehicle would have fishtailed if it didn’t have all of the automatic warning equipment.

“This is not an unrecognised problem locally,” he says.

“There is something wrong with the surface, it needs to be grippier.

“It also isn’t appropriately marked to warn of the danger.”

Kiama resident Ally Brown was driving north along the bends in the recent rain when she was involved in an accident, due to another car sliding on the corner and smashing into her vehicle.

“I was doing around 65km and the other car was doing maybe 70km so I don’t think speeding is involved here,” says Ally.

“The driver said he lost control of his car on the last bend and slid into the barrier which made him run straight into me.

“When we were on the side of the road with the ambulance and police, three other cars slid out in the exact same spot as the driver who hit me.

“I know many people who have spun out including myself at least two or three times.”

The official figures don’t back up this local knowledge, with preliminary data from Transport NSW showing that only two non-casualty crashes occurred in that spot in 2020. In the five years from 2014 to 2019, only 12 crashes recorded 500m south of the Weir Street overpass.

Lake Illawarra Police only has records of major motor vehicle accidents, with three on this corner of the bends in 2019, with none in 2020. While the police might attend an accident, statistics are no longer kept on minor collisions.

With only this evidence to go on, there are no plans to upgrade again (the road was resurfaced five years ago). 

“The resurfacing improved safety for motorists and this site is regularly monitored, however there are no current plans for infrastructure improvements at this location,” says a spokesperson for Transport for NSW.

“Slippery surface signs are also in place and the 80km/h speed limit meets the NSW Speed Zoning Guidelines. There are alignment markers to provide warning of the curve and 65km/h advisory signs are in place to encourage motorists to drive at the recommended speed on the curve.”

The Member for Kiama, Gareth Ward, has already written to the Minister for Regional Roads to express concerns about the safety of the Weir Street turnoff.

“As the local MP, I’ll always do all that I can to make our local roads safer.

“Anyone concerned about this turnoff or who has had a near miss or accident should contact me directly so I can strengthen the case for the right response from Transport for NSW.

“Of course, it’s always important that people drive to meet the conditions and take extra care particularly during peak holiday periods when we have more visitors to our community.”

Captain Walmsley believes that while all motorists are responsible for their own safe driving, things can go wrong and more safety precautions would help to make drivers more aware.

“A few additional warning signs wouldn’t be a bad idea plus I think we need a barricade along the inside lane of the exit to protect people from t-boning the light posts.”

Ms Brown is also keen for some improvement, “I know reconstructing the bends probably won’t happen but if people slowed their speed,

if it was made known to people that cars spin out there and the roads were cleaned or patched up, it could save someone’s life.”

A flashing sign indicating a slow down to 65km, as is installed on the southbound side of the highway, has also been suggested as being warranted.

Fixing the road in general, more road signs or further speed control are just three possible options to decrease the number of incidents that occur on the corner.

However, with Transport NSW’s decision to not upgrade the road in the near future, the responsibility is up to motorists to drive safely and to slow down in wet conditions along the Kiama Bends.

Lake Illawarra Police District continue to urge drivers to be aware of the posted speed limits, their surroundings and the behaviour of other drivers.