Speed limits on Tauranga beaches are proposed to be slashed to 30km/h to improve safety after years of concern that vehicles were being driven and riddentoo fast.

City Council this week backed the introduction of a fixed speed limit on all coastal and harbour beaches.

Beaches are legally defined as roads under the Land Transport Act, with speeds currently dictated by the speed limits of adjacent roads.

And although council already has strict controls on which stretches of beach can be accessed by vehicles, speeds of up to100km/h are legally permissible along the eastern-most end of the beach to Kaituna River mouth.





Council's Beaches Bylaw meant a 30km/h speed limit would apply predominantly to quad bikes from Harrisons Cut to the Kaituna and vehicles launching boats.

The move has the support of Papamoa police who last summer prosecuted about 20 motorists on beaches for offences ranging from using a vehicle to cause annoyance, unsafe driving and careless driving.

Council has long been concerned about excessive speeds posing a danger to beach users.

The 30km/h speed limit will be considered as part of the review of the council's Speed Limit Bylaw which goes out for public consultation from May 11 to June 14.

Police considered 30km/h a realistic speed limit that would not be a major imposition to legitimate beach vehicle users. Speed guns would be used to enforce the rule, with infringement tickets issued.

Part of the problem with driving too fast on beaches was the risk of vehicles striking soft spots. The speed restriction would also cover land yachts and blokarts.

Exceptions would be made for emergency vehicles such as ambulances and surf life saving quad bikes.

I wonder if I can get a lifeguard to hang onto the back of the buggy when doing the speed runs yelling this is a quad??

well it doesn't say"applies to kite buggies, landboards and dirtsurfers"!

don't be silly doing high speed through the flagged area and i'm sure yourl be right.

ps foxton himatangi beach has a 30kph limit also.

even tho i'm an upstanding citizen if a cop jumped out from behind a piece of drift wood and gave me a ticket for speeding on my landboard i'd be bummed at the cost but also stoked that i was going fast enough to warrant a ticket it the first place.

of course i'd have to over come falling on the ground laughing first.

The local cop at Foxton Beach is a blokarter..and a decent guy as well. So long as ya don't go ripping through the high density areas (right adjacent to the surfclub rooms)...and generally behave yourself, they don't seem too bothered by it.

yes i'm sure with foxton/himatangi/waitere/waikawa/otaki.... there will be no problem. most of the time i am the only user. i'm sure the cops have bigger fish to fry.
the mount beach may be slighty different as i would expect alot more users on that beach.

os course theres not rules to how high you can go so if you are restricted going foward then focus on going up instead!!!

ps technical question if you are zipping along 5fooot of the ground are you still on the beach/road? when do road rules stop and aircraft rules apply? hehehe.