A road cone hotline: More hate for roadworkers, and the end of Cone Zealand

EDITORIAL

They're orange, they're illuminated, they're tall — they're New Zealand's staple figure. But the road cone, seen almost anywhere you look on our roads, is under threat of elimination.  

Last week, the Government launched a new reporting hotline for the public to report the overuse of road cones. This is not only a threat to our reputation as Cone Zealand – the country covered in road cones – but also to the road workers who diligently put them out.  

Because who is the first to blame when there are too many road cones? Roadworkers.  

In a post-cabinet press conference, Prime Minister Chris Luxon said, “You can drive around this country at different times of the day and you’ve got whole roads shut down, no one is doing any work and the cones are frankly just clogging up the joint.” 

There is a general aggression against road workers in New Zealand, with a common critique being: “I never see road workers actually working”. This hotline has the potential to only provide a bigger platform for hate against road workers.   

Two ministers have been assigned to this issue, with ACTS Brooke van Velden saying the issue of a “sea of cones” was brought up at almost every meeting during her recent national road trip. 

The focus on cones is part of wider reforms of health and safety laws and regulations. There will be a national effort to decrease the health and safety hoops for small, low-risk businesses to jump through. This would allow businesses to focus their attention on the critical components of workplace safety. After the reforms, small, low-risk businesses would need to manage only critical health and safety risks.  

While the business side of things sounds fine, the roadside of things does not.  

Despite our country's excessive amount of road cones, roadworkers' safety has consistently been at risk. According to the NZ Transport Agency, each year approximately ten road workers or road users are killed each year. Around 30 road workers and road users are seriously injured at temporary traffic management sites. 

In 2023, roadworker Brian Barnes was moving road cones when he was hit by a truck driver and killed. Investigators found that there was no problem with the truck's brakes, and the vehicle was going almost 60kmh in a 30kmh area.  

Last year, Gabriel Fa’amausili died while working on a reseal site in Whangārei. He was working alongside other road workers when he got caught between a roller and a truck, which was laying metal on the road. He was declared dead on site.  

Also last year, a roadworker died after being struck by a truck in the central Auckland suburb Remuera. It was reported that the truck had rolled down the hill and collided with the worker on the street. The man suffered leg and pelvic crush injuries, before passing away at Auckland hospital.  

While our cone use may be excessive, can we ever be too cautious?

And at the end of day, if we have less road cones, university students won't have anything to steal.