Almost $9 million in parking and traffic fines has gone unpaid in Auckland in the past year, and the worst offender owes nearly $38k.

An Australian tourist driver who had his car keys taken from him by a member of the public while driving on the Lindis Pass earlier this month has been fined.

Last weekend we had a spectre haunting our roads: a highway vigilante. He was nameless, known only by his actions.

New drink-drive laws appear to be working but the hospitality industry says the reduced limits have made punters nervous and could badly affect bar owners.

A new website aimed at giving crucial information to tourist drivers has been slammed as a "dangerous waste of time".

'Would you rather have distressed kids in the back of the car, or dead kids splattered across the windscreen?' A man defends taking keys off a tourist driver.

The details of an "appalling" incident of a child riding on the roof of a Dunedin vehicle on a West Coast road will be sent to Dunedin police today for further investigation.

A member of the public stopped a tourist driving a rental car on the Lindis Pass and took the vehicle's keys, after narrowly avoiding a head-on collision.

A driver who stole a car and drove it 28km at speeds of up to 160kmh told police he didn't stop, because he had no licence and had been drinking.

A Park n' Fly customer says he came back from holiday to find his car impounded after police stopped a car valet on a speeding-related charge.

The airport parking company accused of misusing a customer's car has rejected fresh claims of drivers doing "donuts" and "hooning".

Only one person has been banned from driving under a punitive new regime for motorists who refuse to pay their speeding fines.

Tourism leaders are appealing for Kiwis not to come down too hard on overseas drivers as police investigate a crash which has left two French visitors seriously injured.

The police policy of targeting drivers as little as one kilometre an hour over the speed limit has been called ridiculous and ineffective. Is the Police 'zero tolerance' speed campaign working?

Almost half of all tickets from speeding cameras are given out in Auckland, prompting AA's plea to police to ease up on targeting low-level speedsters on citys' motorways.

Overtaking on the road safely and within the law is now all but impossible. The speed limit on the open road is 100km/h. The police are applying zero tolerance.

Santa Claus has admitted being in a bit too much of a rush after being caught speeding on his way to an old folks' home.

Dunedin motorists were stunned to see a man sitting on a couch and holding on to the rear of a moving car as it left a trail of sparks behind him.

Since early settler days and gold rush fever they've been the next stop on the dusty road. A place to hang your hat, quench your thirst, and make new mates.

Lower legal alcohol limits will mean safer journeys for all New Zealanders this summer, the New Zealand Transport Agency says.

Christmas party revellers are being warned police will be out in force to snare drivers who fall foul of new drink drive limits.

Texting, reading and ogling at good-looking pedestrians are among the biggest driver distractions, an AA Insurance survey shows.

A drink-driver who sped at 134 km/h the wrong way on the motorway before killing an innocent motorist will go to prison pregnant and in a wheelchair.

Dunedin police were shocked to find a 10-year-old girl behind the wheel of a car being poorly driven on Saturday night.

Road deaths in the past four days have contributed to a bad month on New Zealand's roads.

Japanese tourist caught cutting corners over Central Otago mountain range says he was just trying to minimise his wife's car sickness.

More than 80 per cent of drivers do not leave their details after crashing into a parked car, a new survey has found.

A repeat drink-driver's radical bid to avoid jail by having an anti-booze drug implanted into himself has been successful.