Haumarutanga rori - pakeke

Road safety - adults

The Travel Safe team work in the community to reduce accidents and improve road safety.

Young Driver Workshop

Free young driver workshops are aimed at road users aged between 16 and 24, who hold a current learner or restricted driver licence. Participants will leave with improved knowledge, confidence, and skills.

Each workshop includes:

A 60-minute one-on-one driving lesson with a certified instructor
Waka Kotahi NZTA roadworthy vehicle check (what to check to ensure your vehicle is safe and roadworthy)
Driver behaviour awareness (speed, impairment, restraints, distraction, and fatigue
Awareness session on sharing the road with heavy vehicles

Parents/caregivers are strongly encouraged to attend but it’s not compulsory. The four-hour workshops are held during school term holidays, usually between 9am and 1pm.

Drive has everything you need to prepare for your learner, restricted and full licence tests.

Visit the Drive website

Young driver workshop

Car Restraints

Looking for support around car seat restraints? Contact one of our local car seat technicians at travelsafeschools@tauranga.govt.nz. We offer free car seat installations, checks, and will help answer any questions or concerns regarding your car restraint.

Carseat installation

Parking behaviour

Drop off and pick up are busy times that pose a safety risk at the school gate. Travel Safe help schools to communicate things like parking time limits, drop off and pick up zones, parking over the kerb and other safety risks at the school gate. We deliver an in-school parking and safety programme named Peaceful Parker, and partner with council parking officers to do school visits when requested by schools or the community.

Blindzone Workshops

Blindzone workshops allow people to see the world from a truck driver’s point of view. Through a series of practical scenarios, participants will learn where to place themselves so they are visible to truck drivers and will leave with more awareness and confidence on the road.

For more on Blindzone and cycling around heavy vehicles visit Share the Road.

Blindzone workshop

Be Bright, Be Safe, Be Seen

This winter visibility programme reminds cyclists, walkers, runners, and scooter riders to have lights, bright clothing, and reflective gear if they are out and about during early mornings, evenings, and at other times of low light and poor visibility.

Whether commuting to work or school, being active for fun or fitness, or popping down to the local shops, people should take extra care and keep safe by being fully visible on roads and paths.

All cyclists are encouraged to wear high-visibility clothing and ensure their front light, rear light and rear red reflector are all working correctly and are clean.

View the official New Zealand code for cycling for more information.

Multiple breaches of Tauranga liquor store sales to underage teenagers

A prominent supermarket, bottle shops and grocery stores were among eight Tauranga off-license premises found to be selling alcohol to underage teenagers aged between 15 and 17 years.

The most recent controlled purchase operation conducted by the Tauranga City Council Alcohol Licensing Team and a Tauranga Police Alcohol Harm Prevention Co-ordinator has revealed serious breaches of the Sale and Supply of Alcohol Act.

Forty-six off-license premises were visited on Saturday 9 August under the supervision of police and Alcohol Licensing Inspectors.

Tauranga City Council Alcohol Licensing Team Leader Sam Kemp says alarmingly, eight of these establishments sold alcohol without verifying the purchaser’s age or requesting any form of identification.

“When questioned by Alcohol Licensing Inspectors, the duty managers admitted they had not verified the minor’s age or in some cases not requested appropriate identification and instead, they completed the sale and allowed the purchase to proceed,” Sam says.

This latest operation follows a similar one conducted in March of this year, during which eight licensed premises also failed to comply.

“The continued non-compliance highlights serious shortcomings in the in-store training and policies of some premises. Selling alcohol to minors is a serious offence, and we will continue to take firm action to ensure public safety and uphold the law,” Sam says.

As a result, Tauranga Alcohol Licensing Inspectors and Police will be submitting suspension applications to the Alcohol Regulatory and Licensing Authority. These applications will target both the duty managers who were on duty at the time of the breaches and the off-licences of the non-compliant premises.

Posted: Aug 12, 2025,