Fatal accidents, breakdowns and huge traffic backlogs have plagued the first four days of the official Christmas road toll period.

A 15-year-old drink driver was on a 24-hour curfew when he allegedly stole his friend's father's car and was spotted driving with no headlights on Saturday.

Editorial: The reactions of Len Brown and Gerry Brownlee when the City Centre Future Access Study was released made it seem barely conceivable they had read the same report.

A new motorway is being constructed near Hamilton, coming into the city from the north; many kilometres are near completion.

Not even a $2.86 billion rail tunnel will stop morning traffic in downtown Auckland from grinding down to half its current speed within a decade, a study says.

All northbound lanes on Auckland's southern motorway are now open after an overturned truck caused traffic chaos.

Rush-hour traffic in central Auckland will slow to walking pace in 10 years if the central city rail tunnel isn't built, a confidential report warns.

A tourist route where an American honeymooner died has been identified as one of the country's riskiest roads to drive on.

A police traffic officer has been charged with careless driving after he crashed his patrol car into a tree.

Former Cabinet minister Dover Samuels has defended a traffic ticket for driving in a bus lane, claiming country drivers don't know city rules.

Letters threatening stern action for non-payment are being sent out by debt-collecting agency Baycorp.

A man who left his four-year-old child home alone then tried to evade a police checkpoint is one of 17 facing drink-driving charges after a Bay of Plenty crackdown.

A man who wedged his double-trailer truck on a winding hill road north of Wellington after following GPS instructions was a disqualified driver, police say.