Static speed camera tickets were down by a third since 2019 which police said showed they were working as a deterrent. Photo: RNZ / Alexander Robertson
Police say the large number of speeding tickets issued to drivers by officers shows they are serious about enforcement.
Road safety figures show officers issued almost 290,000 tickets in the first nine months of the year, up on last year's 230,000 for the same period.
For the last several years police have admitted to not doing enough enforcement and promised to up their game.
"Police committed to increasing the levels of speed enforcement and our follow-through on that commitment is evident in the number of officer-issued infringements for speeding," police told RNZ on Tuesday.
However, they failed once again to hit the targeted number of hours to deploy mobile speed cameras - 61,000 hours versus a target of 80,000-plus hours - though these ticket numbers were way higher than in 2020 and 2021.
"There have been challenges recruiting a sufficient number of traffic camera operators to significantly increase the use of mobile speed cameras," police said.
This was because they could not guarantee long-term jobs when the cameras were being taken over next year by Waka Kotahi.
Static speed camera tickets are down by a third since 2019 to a quarter million for the nine months.
This showed static cameras were working as a deterrent, police said.
"The increase in offences detected by officers and by mobile cameras shows that drivers continue to speed in locations where there are no static cameras."
Police have altered speed camera settings in the past so that speedsters were caught at lower speeds.
They could vary the settings based on their capacity to process infringement notices, police said in a statement.
However, "there have been no other changes to settings, nor are there plans to change the settings in any other way."
"Rather than focusing on camera settings, what we need is for drivers to focus on driving at a safe speed for the conditions, within the posted speed limit. Anyone doing that has nothing to fear from safe speed cameras, regardless of the settings."
A big rise in infringement fees for drivers using cellphones - tripling since 2019 - was "indicative of our commitment to targeting these behaviours that contribute to death and injury".
The fee rose in 2021 from $80 to $150. Since then, the nine-month fee total has risen from $3.4m to $6.2m and the number of drivers pinged from 30,000 to 42,000.
New smart cameras Waka Kotahi plans to introduce are able to spot drivers on the phone. This has been tested but not deployed yet.
The police rejected any suggestion that speed limit enforcement was about revenue raising.
"All monies generated from fines goes to the consolidated fund.
"We would in fact be delighted to never issue another infringement notice, as that would mean drivers are choosing to drive within the posted speed limit."
They said they had received no directives from the new government about road policing priorities.