Drivers clocked at high speeds on TEL 'reckless'

Western Bay road policing Sergeant Wayne Hunter monitoring traffic speeds on the TEL yesterday. Photo / George Novak

Four drivers clocked at speeds of between 134km/h and 176km/h on the Tauranga Eastern Link this week have been labelled "dangerous" and "reckless" for endangering their own lives and those of others.

Western Bay road policing Sergeant Wayne Hunter said the first of the motorists nabbed was a local woman caught going 134km/h about 11am on Monday.

"The scary thing was this driver only had her restricted licence for two weeks, and told the officer she hadn't noticed her speed.

"Also concerning was when the police officer signalled to her to stop, instead of pulling over to the left she came to a stop in the middle of the lanes."

Mr Hunter said the 134km/h speedster was close to losing her licence for 28 days and copped a $300 fine and 35 demerit points.

Less than three hours later a motorcyclist and the driver of a Commodore were clocked at 173km/h and 176km/h respectively, he said.

"Both these motorists were going way too fast for police to catch them, and disturbingly the local Commodore driver was initially spotted driving at more than 200km/h but slowed down when they saw the patrol car."

Mr Hunter said police had the registration number for the Commodore and would also obtain the motorbike registration details from NZTA as the rider went through the toll cameras. "The rider can expect a call from police. In addition to automatically losing their licence for 28 days, and incurring a fine and demerit points, both these speedsters can potentially also be charged with reckless driving or even dangerous driving."

Mr Hunter said another driver was pinged about 11.30am yesterday doing 147 km/h.

It was a disappointing end to a quieter than expected Labour Weekend, with only a handful of other drivers issued speeding tickets in other parts of the district, he said.

In June the Bay of Plenty Times reported a motorist had been caught travelling at 200km/h on the new stretch. Head of Western Bay road policing Senior Sergeant Ian Campion said police did not have the ability to extrapolate which roads speeding tickets were issued within the infringement system.

"To be fair, speeding has been down on the TEL since police started cracking down on those breaking the speed limit. It seems it has only become an issue again during the holiday period.

"It's very disappointing and dangerous behaviour and these motorists have not only placed themselves at huge risk of injury but other road users as well."

Transport Minister Simon Bridges said there was no doubt the Tauranga Eastern Link was a great stretch of road.

"These speeds are not only illegal, but they're reckless and dangerous, no matter what the road ..."

Papamoa-Mount Maunganui ward councillor Steve Morris said he was amazed by the speeds.

"Obviously these drivers were not on their way to hospital or another emergency, so what right do they have to put other motorists lives at risk? If these drivers think they can outrun the police then they're fooling themselves ..."

NZ Transport Agency's road safety director Ernst Zollner said: "This type of extreme behaviour is not only criminal, but in the event of a crash it would not be survivable.

"Nationally on highways around the country we're seeing a reduction in high speed incidents, and these cases are very disappointing."

Tauranga Eastern Link usage

* About 600,000 people have travelled on the TEL since it opened in early August.

* An average of 6400 vehicles use it per day.

* 86 per cent are light vehicles (cars, motorbikes, light trucks)

* 14 per cent are heavy vehicles (heavier than 3.5 tonnes)

- NZTA