Waka Kotahi’s traffic management system has come under fire after a woman was allowed to drive through a dangerous, sealed-off section of a Far North state highway – and then crashed her car.

Police are
investigating after the woman, believed to be from Whangārei, was stranded for 15 hours with a broken femur and serious head lacerations when her car crashed down a bank on State Highway 1 in the Mangamuka Gorge on September 29.

Roading contractors found her the next morning – shortly after Waka Kotahi staff guided Far North deputy mayor Ann Court and media through the area to view the destruction resulting from severe weather.

Local hapū and Court are now questioning why anyone would be allowed through the gorge, which is riddled with slips and cracks and looks like an “earthquake” hit it after a deluge in August.

Polly Tana, the Mangamuka marae representative for Ngā Hapū Mangamuka, said the woman had told traffic controllers manning the site she was visiting a friend and was let through.

There was “a problem with Waka Kotahi and traffic control”, Tana said.

“For someone to go there and say they’re visiting a person in a house … they shouldn’t have let her up unless she was escorted.

“They shouldn’t allow anyone through that gorge.

“I’m really upset about it. Why would you let anyone in?”

Tana said she was meeting Waka Kotahi today to air her concerns and stop it from happening again.

She was “working towards putting our own hapū diversity workers there instead of traffic controllers”, she said.

A Waka Kotahi spokesperson said access had to remain for people who lived in the gorge, as well as contractors doing “important geotechnical testing” as well as emergency services.

“Sections of slips have been levelled out where possible to ensure the road is usable for these vehicles at crawl speed.”

The transport agency could not say whether the woman was a resident or not.

“Due to the police investigation, we are unable to comment on those details.”

St John ambulance confirmed it was notified of the crash on September 30 at 9.43am and airlifted one person to Northland Base Hospital with serious injuries.

Ross Beddows, of the Kaitaia Fire Brigade, said it looked like the woman’s car left the road sometime the previous evening.

The car “got out of control and slewed off the road and hit the tree”, he said.

“It was lucky the two contractors found her.

“The car was precariously balanced, so we tied it to the fire truck to stop it moving down the hill. It was wedged into the tree, but was still a dangerous situation.”

Court said she saw the crash shortly after the site visit with Waka Kotahi and media.

As she came round the corner, fire and emergency staff and roading crews were working to free the woman from the vehicle, she said.

“It’s not what you’d expect to see when a road is closed.

“It was one of those moments when you go ‘did I just see that’?

“But I did think at the time someone’s got some explaining to do.

“I had to go through intensive processes to go through [the gorge] myself – I can’t see how an average citizen could go through there.”

Court said the section of road was “incredibly dangerous”.

“You cannot get any sense of the scale of how bad it is from the photographs. It looks like an earthquake.

“Jo Average shouldn’t be in there because they’re putting their lives at risk.”

Court said she understands four properties are within the closed-off area, and those residents have been “educated” on how to drive on the road.

Orange road cones indicate where residents must not drive past, but Court was unsure whether the crashed car was outside of that.

Waka Kotahi said it was managing the road closure with 24/7 traffic management.

“Our contractors who are managing the road closure have a sign-in process to manage access into the gorge and we are working with them alongside local hapū to understand how this process can be improved to ensure the safety of those who are permitted to use the gorge during the closure.”