Quinovic car caught driving in Auckland bike lane to beat rush hour traffic

An Auckland cyclist caught a car driving in a bike lane, disregarding the road rules to beat rush hour traffic.

Su Yin Khoo was taking her children home from daycare on Wednesday evening when she saw the Quinovic Property Management car turn into the bike lane and overtake backed-up traffic.

She caught the incident on camera and uploaded the video to Twitter.

The car is seen switching lanes into the cycle path and overtaking a long line of cars before turning into a side street off Franklin Road, Freemans Bay.

"It happens pretty regularly, especially in regards to use of bus lanes, footpaths and bike lanes. I got a camera precisely because of this," she said.

Khoo said drivers' convenience should never be more important than the safety of "vulnerable" road users like cyclists and pedestrians.

"Just because a bike lane ‘looks empty’ does not mean that it isn’t being used."

This isn't the first time Khoo has seen drivers disregard road rules.

In February, she filmed a woman who had parked and blocked an Auckland waterfront footpath claiming she owned the Viaduct.

Khoo said infrastructure design can only do so much in stopping this behaviour, even if bike lanes and the road are separated by concrete barriers.

"Just like the blatant red-light running, it needs traffic cameras, monitoring and enforcement by police," she said.

Quinovic CEO Paul Chapman said the incident appears to be isolated and it isn't something he would expect of their franchisees.

"I have been in contact with the franchisee concerned, expressed my disappointment and he has unreservedly apologised for his lack of judgement.

"I have also reached out to the entire franchise network and reiterated to them the importance of driver safety and following road rules," he said.