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.

Bay of Plenty workplaces among winners in Aotearoa Bike Challenge 2022

Competition was tight in this year’s Aotearoa Bike Challenge with a number of Bay of Plenty workplaces taking out places in the national workplace challenge.

Rotorua Trails Trust was second nationally for an organisation with 7-19 staff and Tauranga-based Lysaght Consultants was third nationally in the 20-49 staff category.

Tauranga City Council’s Travel Safe Coordinator Yvonne Rooney says this year’s competition was tighter than ever as rivalry heated up locally and nationally.

“A number of local offices competed as part of their national teams – and they had fierce inter-office competition,” says Yvonne.

“Biking is increasing as both a transport choice and for fitness or fun.

“This year we saw more workplaces than ever log rides in the Challenge,” says Yvonne.

“More than 372,000km were recorded in the Bay of Plenty. Of those, 100,000km were for transport purposes – potentially replacing car trips and saving more than 18,000kg of CO2.”

This year the month-long Aotearoa Bike Challenge was supported by a group of councils across the country, including Tauranga City Council, along with some major sponsors. The Aotearoa Bike Challenge utilises the international platform - Love to Ride. The aim was to get more people choosing to ride their bikes as transport.

The challenge was complemented by Bike Month for Tauranga and Western Bay of Plenty, which provided people of all ages with opportunities to improve their cycling skills and increase their confidence to ride their bikes.

Travel Safe organised a variety of events such as guided historic, neighbourhood and commuter rides, maintenance workshops and cycle skills sessions.

Travel Safe Team Leader Sonia Lynds says the Aotearoa Bike Challenge and Bike Month are great ways to encourage and support people to change their travel habits, save money, and promote active lifestyles that can improve mental and physical health.

Travel Safe continues to support school-aged children with bike safety and has a dedicated adult cycling role to support adults who are nervous, or unsure where they can ride safely.

“For those of you who enjoyed the challenge aspect, this year participants in Tauranga can keep up the momentum by signing up to The Wednesday Challenge. Workplaces can set up teams, or you can compete as individuals, to use different modes of travel on Wednesdays. Be in to win prizes while making a change for good,” says Sonia.

Sign up to The Wednesday Challenge here.

Aotearoa Bike Challenge results for Bay of Plenty region:

2000+ staff - Bay of Plenty

Bay of Plenty District Health Board (10th nationally)

500-1999 staff – Bay of Plenty

Tauranga City Council (7th nationally)
Lakes District Health Board
Trustpower

200-499 staff – Bay of Plenty

Bay of Plenty Regional Council (10th nationally)
Rotorua Lakes Council
Classic Group

50-199 staff – Bay of Plenty

Rotorua Police Station (4th nationally)
Mercury Rotorua
Patchell Industries

20-49 staff

Lysaght Consultants (3rd nationally)
RAPHS
GHD Tauranga

7-19 staff

Rotorua Trails Trust (2nd nationally)
Tiaki Engineering Consultants Ltd (8th nationally)
Pattle Delamore

3-6 staff

P3 Research
Mourea Coffee Company
Retired Gentlemans Club Waihi Beach

Full results available here.

For further information please contact:
Travel Safe Team
Phone: 07 577 7700
Email: workplacetravel@tauranga.govt.nz

For information on how the amount of CO2 savings is calculated visit Love to ride.

Cyclists enjoying a guided ride during February’s Bike Month.