The mother of a young woman killed by a speeding driver says Rotorua's "diabolical" motorists need to change their attitudes on the road.
Her comments come as figures show more than $10 million worth of speeding tickets have been issued in Rotorua since 2009.
In 2009 there were 4812 tickets issued by officers in Rotorua, rising to 6744 in 2015 - the most recent full year figures available.
However provisional figures show the number of tickets from speed cameras had dropped from a peak of 15,166 in 2010 to just 4353 in 2015 - and it looks to be even lower in 2016 with 1795 tickets issued in the nine months to the end of September.
Jacqui Hesketh's 23-year-old daughter Tanya was killed when she was hit by a speeding driver on Te Ngae Rd in July 2000.
More than 16 years later Mrs Hesketh, who also works with Victim Support, is saddened to see so many drivers still speeding.
"It's frustrating. Billions of dollars is being poured into safe driving ads, everything that can be done is being done to try to change the way people drive.
"Working in Victim Support I still see and deal with the damage caused by [speeding]. Tanya had a great future ahead of her and that was taken away. It's just so sad.
"The drivers are diabolical in this town, and it's not just speeding, it's drinking and drugs too. They are not changing their habits because most of the time they are getting away with it."
Mrs Hesketh said it was tough to see such high road tolls.
Jacqui Hesketh places a plant on the road in 2003 where her daughter Tanya was killed three-and-a-half years earlier. Also pictured is Tania's father Grev and younger sister Jade. Photo/File
"A person who causes a crash can carry on living their lives but those their actions affect are left with this huge void in their lives."
She said she did not have the solution, but suggested high school students be educated more before they had a chance to develop bad driving habits.
Meanwhile, the biggest decrease in Rotorua was seen in the number of tickets issued for not wearing seatbelts - down from 2078 in 2009 to 1828 in 2015. In the nine months to the end of September last year, 636 tickets were issued for lack of restraints.
The officer in charge of road policing for Rotorua, Acting Senior Sergeant Jamie Keenleyside, said tickets were never about revenue, but were about keeping people safe on the roads.
He believed the drop in tickets for seatbelt use was because of greater awareness about the importance of wearing them.
"It is an important focus for police. It is part of the fatal five. I think the message is getting through."
He said men were generally worse than women for not wearing seatbelts - and the excuses varied "far and wide".
Mr Keenleyside said police hadn't reduced their focus on seatbelts and carseats, so the drop in tickets was most likely more people complying.
