The NZ Transport Agency Waka Kotahi (NZTA) says serious abusive and threatening behaviour towards roadworkers is up 20 per cent in a year nationwide, and is one reason roughly half of workers quit within a year.
Now, with the Bay’s biggest summer roadworks programme expected to cause “a lot” of disruption –outside the December 22 to January 7 pause for peak holiday traffic – workers are worried the abuse will get worse.
They say they are just trying to fix the roads as safely as possible and go home to their families – just like drivers.
Shot at, threatened: ‘You don’t really ever get used to it’
On his first day on a roading crew in Taupō, Warren Epapara was given the fingers twice, copped abuse from a truck driver, and had a driver revving her vehicle beside him while honking and yelling at him.
Four years on, his vehicle was shot on a worksite in Te Ngae Rd, Rotorua. He pulled over and was shot at again, only then realising it was with a BB gun.
He said the abuse, up to 70-hour work weeks, and being away from family were factors in the high turnover rate.
Epapara, who has a 21-month-old daughter, said he was worried about what drivers might do this summer.
“We’re family people just like you. We understand that what we’re doing is causing a lot of disruption, but at the same time, we’re trying to help repair our roads and make things safer for everyone.”
He said it “really affects” younger staff and some wanted to respond or retaliate out of frustration.
“We’ve got to remind them we’re here to do a job ... that’s just going to make the situation worse.”
Road workers told to ‘commit suicide’
Josh Coombes has been in the industry about 17 years and says abuse by motorists is on the rise.
Higgins regional traffic manager Josh Coombes. Photo / Andrew Warner
Coombes said high staff anxiety levels worsened on busy roads where queues would form, so they did more work at night – but the dark could bring out more “extreme” driver behaviour.
He said staff learned about de-escalation and not engaging, but it was hard for those who wore “their hearts on their sleeves” and wanted to “say something back”.
This had led to the odd altercation, with police called a few times.
Coombes said he felt disappointed he could not do more to protect his staff.
He wanted the public to understand their sacrifices, which included working nights, weekends, up to 14-hour shifts and some six-day weeks.
“They don’t get to see their family as often as someone who might be doing a 9-to-5.”
Coombes said he tried to make sure everyone felt safe and went home to their loved ones; for him, a partner and two young kids.
“We are trying to get the job done and get home just like you are.”
Half of road workers leave job within a year
NZTA Bay of Plenty and Waikato acting regional manager Roger Brady said he was “hugely concerned” about the industry’s future as the abuse had “almost become business as usual”.
It was hard to see “good people” walk away.
“A lot of people leave … about half the people leave within a year. They’ve just had enough of it.
“How many people want a job where there’s a high chance of getting abused … for no fault of their own?”
NZ Transport Agency Waka Kotahi acting regional manager Roger Brady. Photo / Andrew Warner
The scale of the issue was “probably way worse” than the 20 per cent year-on-year increase, as incidents were under-reported.
Brady said there had been “huge” changes in driver behaviour post-Covid lockdowns. People’s resistance and patience were worn out, but heightened stress was “not an excuse”.
Ironically, abuse also slowed the progress of roadworks as incidents were investigated and people removed for support.
Unmanned lights or signals on timed cycles had become more common to reduce the risk to staff, further slowing traffic.
“The very thing that’s causing people to [be abusive] is made worse when people are abused.”
He said the riskiest situations included drivers ignoring warnings and ploughing through sites where heavy machinery was used, or ignoring the stop/go signs and crashing into oncoming traffic.
Brady warned of “a lot” of traffic disruption this summer with a bigger roadworks programme “than ever before” to get through while roads were drier.
“It’s a paradox. We’re doing the right thing, we’re caring for the roads, we want to get the community moving, but in the short term, it’s going to slow people down.”
He said the transport agency used multiple platforms to inform motorists about delays and he asked drivers to leave earlier, be patient and respect workers.
Roading staff were “wonderfully warm, good people … here to fix the problem, not cause the problem”.
“Everyone comes to work to do a good job and they’re doing the best they can.”
‘You get used to it’
“Get off the road”, “do some work” and “you don’t know how to do your job” were the common insults Downer engineer Josh Fraser heard – though usually with “more colourful language”.
Workers did get “down about it” but he said they also “get used to it”.
“When you’re working, you’re concentrating and try not to think about it.”
He said drivers had pulled over to yell and swear at him, and workers had also been threatened and shot at with pellets.
Motorists seeing workers use phones for legitimate tasks such as taking photos and making records triggered more public outrage, he said.
Fraser said it would be a big help if drivers obeyed temporary speed limits as it could be “unnerving” and “hard to concentrate” with little protection between workers and vehicles speeding past.
Downer engineer Josh Fraser. Photo / Andrew Warner
It was “frustrating” to hear people complain about roadworks and complain about work not being done on roads.
There were no “five-minute” fixes and people should remember roads were being improved while thousands of vehicles used them daily.
He had been in the industry about 15 years and said people now were “a lot more aggressive”, roads were busier, and there were more worksite safety regulations which all slowed things down.
The Rotorua man said local roading contractors were as impacted by the work as everyone else.
“We’re trying to make it better for the community. We just want everyone to go home safely to their families.”
Why does it look like some road workers are doing nothing?
Higgins Bay of Plenty East operations network outcomes contracts manager Nick Vigor-Brown said staff were abused for having breaks, even though they were onsite all day and rotated breaks so work could continue.
There were many safety regulations and every worker had a “critical” role, even if some might not look like much to a layperson – for example, spotters, surveyors, or people checking pegs. Some work happened below the road surface level.
Road workers are suffering more abuse than ever as they try to complete their work on our roads. Photo / Andrew Warner
Sites needed a 1m buffer zone for crew safety, which was difficult on tight roads so it was sometimes quicker to get the job done through full closures rather than using traffic management which could add up to hour-long delays.
Scale of abuse hard to measure
An NZTA spokeswoman said since May last year, it had recorded 12 incidents of workers being threatened with a weapon, including a BB gun, rubber bullets, gel pellets, and a knife.
Nine were at temporary traffic management sites and one involved a car-jacking.
There were “many more” incidents such as threats of an unseen weapon or attempts to drive into workers.
The formal data was not a full representation of what happened as incidents were under-reported, but from talking with contractors NZTA knew anecdotally general abusive behaviour had increased.
