Bay of Plenty Times
  • Bay of Plenty Times home
  • Latest news
  • Business
  • Opinion
  • Lifestyle
  • Property
  • Sport
  • Video
  • Death notices
  • Classifieds

Subscriptions

  • Herald Premium
  • Viva Premium
  • The Listener
  • BusinessDesk

Sections

  • Latest news
  • On The Up
  • Business
  • Opinion
  • Lifestyle
  • Property
    • All Property
    • Residential property listings
  • Rural
    • All Rural
    • Dairy farming
    • Sheep & beef farming
    • Horticulture
    • Animal health
    • Rural business
    • Rural life
    • Rural technology
  • Sport

Locations

  • Coromandel & Hauraki
  • Katikati
  • Tauranga
  • Mount Maunganui
  • Pāpāmoa
  • Te Puke
  • Whakatāne
  • Rotorua

Media

  • Video
  • Photo galleries
  • Today's Paper - E-Editions
  • Photo sales
  • Classifieds

Weather

  • Thames
  • Tauranga
  • Whakatāne
  • Rotorua

NZME Network

  • Advertise with NZME
  • OneRoof
  • Driven Car Guide
  • BusinessDesk
  • Newstalk ZB
  • Sunlive
  • ZM
  • The Hits
  • Coast
  • Radio Hauraki
  • The Alternative Commentary Collective
  • Gold
  • Flava
  • iHeart Radio
  • Hokonui
  • Radio Wanaka
  • iHeartCountry New Zealand
  • Restaurant Hub
  • NZME Events

SubscribeSign In

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Premium
Home / Bay of Plenty Times

Luke Kirkness: Stuck in traffic? Why not put your mind to work too?

Luke Kirkness
By Luke Kirkness
Sport Planning Editor·Bay of Plenty Times·
4 Jan, 2022 10:00 PM3 mins to read

Subscribe to listen

Access to Herald Premium articles require a Premium subscription. Subscribe now to listen.
Already a subscriber?  

Listening to articles is free for open-access content—explore other articles or learn more about text-to-speech.
‌
Save
    Share this article

    Reminder, this is a Premium article and requires a subscription to read.

Motor sporting expert and road safety advocate Greg Murphy is heading to Parliament over New Zealand's "broken driver licensing system".

OPINION:

The biggest problems causing headaches in the Bay of Plenty could be solved behind the steering wheel.

Traffic congestion throughout our region has been horrendous of late, especially in known hotspots like the Karangahake Gorge.

Through no fault of their own, except for travelling, people have been forced to spend hours crawling through sluggish traffic.

We should be used to it now after many summers of people packing everything but the kitchen sink into the back of the family car and hitting the road.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

Sometimes a journey that might take half an hour could take two or three times that. Most of us will be used to it but it doesn't make the journey any more pleasant.

In recent years, Waka Kotahi NZ Transport Agency has been getting the message about holiday traffic out early and quickly.

People are advised to travel at off-peak times such as early morning or in the evening. They are also very active on social media, updating followers to any crashes or road works throughout the country.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

In the Bay of Plenty on Monday evening, there were three road work sites and a warning about holiday traffic between Waihī and Te Puna. NZTA also warned about resurfacing delays on State Highway 30.

A great service if you're about to travel on our roads.

Discover more

Luke Kirkness: Let's stop making life out like it's a bed of roses

13 Dec 09:30 PM

Luke Kirkness: Anxious days ahead after Omicron discovery

30 Dec 10:00 PM

Luke Kirkness: Something worth celebrating in 2021

27 Dec 09:30 PM

Luke Kirkness: Get out and support local this holiday period

25 Dec 09:00 PM

However, if you were to ignore all the advice and travel at the same time as everyone good things might happen.

Picture a clear blue sky with the sun beating down, causing the air conditioning to be on full-bore and the car tyres to stick to the road's surface.

And to make matters worse - or better - you're stuck in a long snake of traffic as far as the eye can see. It would be a sight to make your blood boil until you put your mind to an important task.

This task could be thinking about how to solve the Bay of Plenty's housing shortage, how tourism operators could bounce back from Covid-19 or how to make our roads safer. An answer to the latter would be invaluable with more than a dozen road deaths already over the holiday period.

This period seems to be one of the few times people travel in their vehicles with more than themselves in the car. It would make sense to use the time spent in congestion to put it towards something of use.

A good debate and brainstorm never hurt anybody — maybe you could discover the solution to continual holiday traffic woes.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

But if you're stuck in the car with young children, maybe you're best sticking to I spy and in that case, good luck.

Save
    Share this article

    Reminder, this is a Premium article and requires a subscription to read.

Latest from Bay of Plenty Times

Bay of Plenty Times

'Unforgettable' experience: STEMFest set to wow Tauranga visitors

Bay of Plenty Times

'You'll do': How a fateful interview led to a 25-year principalship

Premium
Bay of Plenty Times

Tauranga's 'massive' week: Record-breaking Aims Games 2025 wraps


Sponsored

NZ’s convenience icon turns 35

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

Latest from Bay of Plenty Times

'Unforgettable' experience: STEMFest set to wow Tauranga visitors
Bay of Plenty Times

'Unforgettable' experience: STEMFest set to wow Tauranga visitors

Over 10,000 attendees are expected, with 4000 already registered for tickets.

06 Sep 07:00 PM
'You'll do': How a fateful interview led to a 25-year principalship
Bay of Plenty Times

'You'll do': How a fateful interview led to a 25-year principalship

05 Sep 11:02 PM
Premium
Premium
Tauranga's 'massive' week: Record-breaking Aims Games 2025 wraps
Bay of Plenty Times

Tauranga's 'massive' week: Record-breaking Aims Games 2025 wraps

05 Sep 06:00 PM


NZ’s convenience icon turns 35
Sponsored

NZ’s convenience icon turns 35

02 Sep 09:23 PM
NZ Herald
  • About NZ Herald
  • Meet the journalists
  • Newsletters
  • Classifieds
  • Help & support
  • Contact us
  • House rules
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms of use
  • Competition terms & conditions
  • Our use of AI
Subscriber Services
  • Bay of Plenty Times e-edition
  • Manage your print subscription
  • Manage your digital subscription
  • Subscribe to Herald Premium
  • Subscribe to the Bay of Plenty Times
  • Gift a subscription
  • Subscriber FAQs
  • Subscription terms & conditions
  • Promotions and subscriber benefits
NZME Network
  • Bay of Plenty Times
  • The New Zealand Herald
  • The Northland Age
  • The Northern Advocate
  • Waikato Herald
  • Rotorua Daily Post
  • Hawke's Bay Today
  • Whanganui Chronicle
  • Viva
  • NZ Listener
  • Newstalk ZB
  • BusinessDesk
  • OneRoof
  • Driven Car Guide
  • iHeart Radio
  • Restaurant Hub
NZME
  • About NZME
  • NZME careers
  • Advertise with NZME
  • Digital self-service advertising
  • Book your classified ad
  • Photo sales
  • NZME Events
  • © Copyright 2025 NZME Publishing Limited
TOP