Philip Thornton Kenway had the honour of being the first Gisborne motorist fined for speeding when he managed to exceed 10 miles per hour. Kenway, a pioneer Waimata settler, was also famed for bravely undertaking the first motor car journey between Gisborne and Napier in a 6 h.p. single cylinder De Dion car in 1905. En route, he and his companion had to wade waist deep into creeks to remove boulders and navigate precipitous slopes at night-time with the aid of a feeble single headlamp. No settler living on the road leading to his home would risk riding or driving on it without ringing him up to make certain that he did not intend to be out that day with his “chuffer.”
[source: J.A. MacKay, “Historic Poverty Bay and the East Coast, N.I., N.Z.” 2nd edition, 1966]