A tractor driver who drove slowly down the Hawke's Bay Expressway during Tuesday morning's rush hour has sparked outrage online.
A photo of the driver on the two-lane expressway was posted to Facebook along with an angry message.
"Does this make any one else angry...! [sic]," they wrote.
"8.45 am peak hour and this twit is driving his tractor up the expressway towing his ute doing 30km . He had traffic backed up as far back as I could see....!!! [sic]"
Commenters were split on the issue, with many taking the side of the tractor driver.
"It's a bugger that some people start there jobs earlier than the rest and have tasks to complete. Ever thought this guy doesn't want to risk his life driving on the expressway at those times but has to feed his family [sic]," Ryan Elliott wrote.
"Tractors have just as much right to be on the road as any car. We do ridiculous hours to provide and we can't help that we have to travel to the job," argued Jason Farquharson.
Others blamed the road designers for making an expressway with no passing lanes.
"Don't blame the tractor driver blame those who made the expressway 2 lanes not 4[sic]," Graeme Rees pointed out.
The New Zealand Transport Agency says driving a tractor on the expressway isn't illegal.
"There is currently no ban on the use of tractors on road, simply on the basis of it being a tractor," a NZTA spokesperson says.
"Slow-moving vehicles are not excluded from using an expressway as they are on a motorway."
However, they warn that slow drivers must allow faster vehicles to overtake.
"Clause 2.1 of the Land Transport (Road User) Rule 2004 also applies, which requires the driver of a slower vehicle to pull over to the side to let faster traffic pass," they say.
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