Father takes fight to council

An Ashburton dad who lost two daughters after a crash on Christchurch’s Summit Rd is taking his fight for safety improvements directly to the council.

Jason Alexander has met Christchurch Mayor Lianne Dalziel and will present a petition to the city council on Thursday asking for the road to be made safer. Teenagers Tayla Alexander,

17, and sister Sunmara Alexander,

15 at the time, were in a car reportedly driven by a 19-year-old man when it crashed in the Port Hills about 11pm on November 27.

Passersby, then emergency services, fought the fire and pulled the occupants out. Tayla died in the crash. Sunmara was critically injured with extensive burns. Despite successive surgeries,

she died on her 16th birthday in December at Auckland’s Middlemore Hospital.

Family friend Kelly Foster created a petition on change.org on behalf of Alexander calling for more sturdy barriers along Summit Rd. Alexander also wants the road closed on weekend nights to prevent ‘‘needless racing or speeding’’ around the hills. The petition has more than 6000 signatures.

In a Facebook post, Alexander said he was not great speaking in front of a crowd, but he was determined not to back down.

Dalziel confirmed yesterday that she met informally with Alexander on Friday to discuss the petition. She said she was going to recommend the issue be referred to the council’s urban development and transport committee to consider.