More than 73,000 Kiwi motorists have been snapped by mobile speed camera trailer units in their first six months on the roads, with the total value of fines issued exceeding $4.65 million.
The figures, obtained by 1News under the Official Information Act, revealed a total of 73,170 verified speeding offences detected by mobile trailer units following their rollout in September 2025.
The total face value of infringement notices issued during that period was $4,651,840.
NZTA, which operates the cameras, says they are not about revenue‑gathering, but preventing deaths and serious injuries.
Head of driving regulation at NZTA Chris Rodley said the purpose of safety cameras is to deter unsafe speeds.
"Evidence from New Zealand and around the world shows that safety cameras are an effective tool to reduce speeding, making crashes less likely to occur, and ensure that if crashes do happen, the people involved are far more likely to walk away unharmed."
Rodley said mobile safety cameras were designed to create a general deterrent, discouraging drivers from speeding anywhere and at any time.
"Mobile safety cameras reduce deaths and serious injuries when they discourage speeding everywhere. This is known as 'general deterrence' and this is why mobile cameras are deployed nationwide 'anytime, anywhere'," he said.
Camera locations
According to NZTA, camera locations are chosen based on both crash data and community input.
"To achieve general deterrence, cameras are deployed to locations where data shows there is a high crash risk and to other locations nominated by the community and our road safety partners," Rodley said.
"This approach allows us to be flexible in addressing risk as, and where it occurs — for example where speeding is more or less of an issue at certain times of the day or year, or where there is an emerging risk not yet appearing in historic data."
NZTA said there are generally around 10 mobile speed camera trailer units in operation at any one time across the country. However, there is no fixed number available for the total trailer fleet.
"This is because our contract for mobile safety camera services is for numbers of hours of enforcement per annum, rather than the number of trailer units in operation at any one time," an NZTA spokesperson said.
"The number of trailer units in the fleet size is managed operationally by our service provider and can change over time as more trailers are added or existing trailers are taken out of commission."
The cameras employ radar technology to detect speeding vehicles.
Only verified offences were included in the figures, which cover the period from September-March. in some cases, a vehicle may be detected but its speed cannot be confirmed, with those detections excluded.
Likewise, the total fine value reflects the face value of issued infringement notices, not the amount collected by the Government.
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