Neryda McNabb

So it seems we drivers who live on the western side of Whakatāne and crawl into town each morning nose-to-tail have another frustration to deal with.

If the Hub Hoppers are not enough, it seems some Coastlands residents have also found a way to jump the queue and get over the bridge a little faster.

On Monday morning as I was heading through the Hub/Keepa Road roundabout in the inside lane, thinking “I’m almost there”, I noticed two vehicles coming from Coastlands and taking the inside lane for traffic intending to turn right and head west out of town.

As I always do, I stopped mid-roundabout to give them space to make their turn around the roundabout.

Except they didn’t turn. The driver of this white Hilux, closely followed by a Toyota Corolla – I’m guessing from the same household – instead used the inside lane to turn left and head into town ahead of me (and all their Coastlands neighbours patiently waiting in line to turn”).

I have never Hub-hopped but during peak after-work traffic will often attempt to find a quicker way out of town via a side street, relying on the courtesy of other drivers to let me in. So, annoying as it was, I almost had to admire this pair for hatching a plan to give themselves a free run into town without attracting the same attention – and bad vibes – that Hub hoppers get daily from all the rest of us.

I did think about coming up with a name for their sneaky manoeuvre, but hopefully this pair are not going to spark a trend.

Because if more people start following suit, those that are legitimately using this inside lane to get to work at Gateway Drive or travel to Edgecumbe, Kawerau and beyond, might find that courteous eastbound drivers on this clogged roundabout stop giving them the clear path through that they should get – and mostly do.