Police still don't know what caused a glitch in a speed camera that led to traffic fines totalling $150,000 dollars being wrongly imposed.
The Ngauranga Gorge motorway (file) Photo: RNZ / Alexander Robertson
The fines have since been cancelled.
Assistant Commissioner of Road Policing Dave Cliff said there was a technical problem with the fixed speed camera on the Ngauranga Gorge, north of Wellington city, last month.
It reverted to daylight saving hours after daylight saving had ended, despite initially showing standard daylight hours. This meant a number of infringements were issued with the incorrect time.
Mr Cliff said of the 1700 people affected, the 400 who paid their fines are having their money refunded and the rest have been told not to pay.
"We certainly don't want to have any technology not working perfectly, that's why we are intent on putting it right because when we do issue a notice we want to make sure that it has absolute integrity and accuracy around it. So that's why we've moved to ensure that we can reassure people that if we don't get it right we will refund or stop payment."
Mr Cliff said the issue with the specific camera had been rectified and checks had shown no others were affected.
He said notices issued between 5 April and 8 May were being cancelled.
"As soon as police became aware of the problem, we've advised those affected and fixed it. We've also moved to refund anyone who paid a fine after being ticketed incorrectly."
"In addition to a thorough assessment by the camera manufacturers, a process is also in place to ensure notices issued are monitored on a daily basis so that any future issues are identified as quickly as possible."
The face value of the infringements was $151,880, with the vast majority of the fines for speeds ranging from 4 km/h to 20 km/h over the limit. These attract fines ranging from $30-$120.
New speed cameras with latest radar-based technology were installed in Ngauranga Gorge last year as part of a $10 million nationwide programme.
