The TEL layout has caused confusion for several drivers.
An elderly driver was spotted driving on the wrong side of the road on the Tauranga Eastern Link yesterday - the fifth driver to do so since the expressway opened two months ago.
Tauranga police were yesterday searching for the elderly driver who was spotted driving on the wrong side of the expressway about midday.
Western Bay of Plenty road policing Senior Sergeant Ian Campion said yesterday's incident was the fifth report of an elderly driver travelling into oncoming traffic since the multi-lane road opened in August.
"At this stage we've been very fortunate not have dealt with a serious crash from this behaviour," Mr Campion said.
Three of the five incidents were near head-on collisions and Mr Campion said one instance involved an elderly driver realising he was travelling on the wrong side of the road yet continued to drive towards the exit at the end of the expressway.
Depending on the circumstances of the offence, the charge for driving on the wrong side of the road could range from an infringement notice to a court appearance where the driver could be fined, imprisoned or disqualified from driving.
Mr Campion appreciated "people make mistakes" but said drivers must pull over and stop immediately once realising they were driving on the wrong side of the road.
"If you're heading into oncoming traffic on the wrong side of a multi-lane motorway, then the outcome is going to be drastic," he said.
He believed the drivers became confused when entering the motorway at the new Domain Rd roundabout and took the wrong exit on to the right-hand side of the road.
Mr Campion's message was: if you're not familiar or confident with the area, get a person that is familiar with the road way to drive you through so you are aware of the road changes.
One driver who narrowly avoided colliding with a car travelling the wrong way is calling for better signage to prevent further dangerous behaviour.
Less than a month ago, Tauranga man Brian Sparrow was travelling to Te Puke on the new TEL near Bruce Rd when he saw an elderly woman in a car travelling towards him.
Mr Sparrow appreciated the new road layout could be confusing, but called for drivers to be more vigilant and for bigger signs to warn motorists of the wrong exists.
"Because of the seriousness of the situation, [NZTA] need to put up tall, massive signs so that these people can clearly see they're on the wrong side," he said. "I can understand there's a major cost of putting up big warning signs but it would be more of a cost if there were a head-on collision."
Tanya Smith, general manager of Age Concern Tauranga, agreed elderly drivers could be confused with the new roading layout.
Age Concern Tauranga offer a free refresher driving course for people aged 65 and over that helped with new layouts and basic road rules. "There could be a reason why this is happening, maybe the signage may not be great, maybe the person who's driving their eyesight might be failing, who knows."
Kevin Brooks from Brooks Driving School in Bethlehem said older drivers booked driving assessments with him about every two years. "There's always going to be an older driver who is going to get it wrong ... but it would be good for older drivers to take a driving assessment."
New Zealand Transport Agency's Bay of Plenty highway manager, Niclas Johansson said NZTA was concerned with people driving on the wrong side of the road and was looking into why the mistake was being made. "The signage and road layout on and around the Tauranga Eastern Link meets transtasman safety guidelines, but we're open to exploring further measures that will provide an extra prompt to motorists to prevent any confusion," he said. "Human error does occur from time to time, but the last thing we want is for a simple mistake to turn into a tragedy."