Speedsters travelling south of Rotorua risk being fined from May 12. Photo / Supplied
Heavy-footed drivers zooming south of Rotorua will need to start sticking to the speed limit or be fined.
State Highway 5 south of Rotorua at Tumunui is one of 17 areas across the country that either have, or will have, new average speed cameras operating.
The cameras work by calculating the average speed of the driver between two fixed cameras.
Calculations are made on how long it takes the driver to travel between the two cameras, and the average speed is determined. If it’s over the speed limit, the driver is fined.
The two cameras are on SH5 in the Tumunui area, just south of the SH30 turnoff (Waipa) and the northern side of the SH38 turnoff (Rainbow Mountain), covering an 18km stretch.
Fines for speeding drivers will be issued from May 12. Vehicles travelling in both directions can be fined with the cameras capturing front and rear licence plates. Motorcycles can only be captured in one direction.
New Zealand Transport Agency Waka Kotahi said in a social post last month that it was activating new average speed safety cameras across the country throughout 2026, following its activating of the country’s first set of cameras on Matakana Rd in Auckland in December.
NZTA said the aim was to reduce the number of people travelling over the speed limit and lessen the likelihood of a serious or fatal crash.
The statement said exceeding the speed limit was illegal.
“If you travel at or below the speed limit, you won’t be fined.”
Signs are installed before the cameras to let drivers know they are entering an average speed camera zone.
“You should expect to be fined if your average speed is over the speed limit – in other words, if you’ve travelled between the cameras too quickly," NZTA’s statement said.
NZTA said average speed safety cameras were widely used overseas and had proven to reduce deaths and serious injuries.
In a 2024 NZTA document comparing types of speed cameras, average speed cameras are shown to reduce death and serious injury by 48%, compared with fixed point speed cameras at 20%.
NZTA’s website said if a driver’s average speed was over the speed limit, the system would send the information to its enforcement team. Enforcement officers review the details to confirm if speeding happened.
The website said that if the section of road had more than one speed limit, the system compared the vehicle’s average speed to the average weighted speed limit. That’s the fastest speed the driver could legally travel if they followed all speed limits along the way.
Te Pā Tū spokeswoman Te Kiri Atkinson-Crean, who is the head of tourism for Tauhara North No. 2 Trust, said the cameras were welcome news for their staff, who had to navigate a tricky turn on the busy highway to get to work.
Te Pā Tū, about 12km south of Rotorua, offers a cultural experience for visitors, including traditional Māori hangi and a concert.
Atkinson-Crean said transport to and from work was provided for staff, some of whom were young and relatively new to driving.
She said that while they encouraged staff to use the provided transport, they sometimes opted to drive themselves.
They had a staff policy to turn left on to Highlands Loop Rd to safely cross the highway to the entrance, rather than sitting in the middle of the state highway waiting to turn right.
She said sitting waiting near the middle of the road while indicating right was dangerous as there was no turning bay.
“We’ve had several concerns about the cars hurtling over that hill towards the waiting cars [turning right]. I am chuffed about those new cameras. It’s going to help keep the speeds down.”
Bay of Plenty road policing manager Inspector Brendon Keenan said speed was often a prominent factor in serious and fatal vehicle crashes in the Bay of Plenty, and local police were committed to reducing such crashes.
“The Bay of Plenty has currently had 13 fatal crashes on our roads year to date. These cameras will help ensure drivers are driving at appropriate speeds to keep our roading network safer for everyone.”
News of the new cameras near Rotorua was met on NZTA’s Facebook with mixed responses.
Some said it was welcome news, and NZTA should “make a fortune” catching all the speeding drivers. Others felt slow drivers should be fined too, while another jokingly asked where they could post their times online to see “who’s winning”.
The Bay of Plenty has one other average speed camera site set to be rolled out in the coming months, on SH2 at Matātā.
Kelly Makiha is a senior journalist who has reported for the Rotorua Daily Post for more than 25 years, covering mainly police, court, human interest and social issues.