Speed camera glitches cost $4m

Glitches in new hi-tech speed cameras means police revenue is down at least $4 million in the first half of this year.

Police issued 116,052 speed camera tickets in the first six months of this year, down 52,806 on the corresponding period in 2008, when police issued 168,858 tickets from the old wet-film mobile cameras, according to figures obtained by the Dominion Post under the Official Information Act.

In December last year police national road policing manager Paula Rose said the new digital cameras would see more, not fewer, tickets issued.

Police spokesman Grant Ogilvie said the reduced number of tickets reflected the transition period between old and new cameras.

"As with the introduction of any complex new equipment, there have been minor technical issues in this process to deal with and resolve," he said.

Thirty-one wet-film cameras have been replaced by 43 new Australian-supplied digital mobile cameras around the country between January and July this year at a cost of about $4 million.

Police earlier this year admitted they had to waive 133 speeding tickets because the new cameras had wrongly clocked high-sided vehicles at twice their actual speeds.

Based on the lower-end speeding fine of $80, nearly 53,000 fewer tickets would mean fines are down at least $4.2 million this year so far.

Both Ms Rose and acting national road policing manager Peter McKay were unavailable to discuss the specific reasons behind the reduction in infringement notices being issued.

Mr Ogilvie would not comment on how many tickets had been waived because of the faulty equipment.

He said there was no pressure on police to increase ticket numbers in other areas.

"Police are interested in road safety and we are not driven by revenue."

- NZPA