Several Cromwell motorists have taken to social media to complain about being falsely pinged for driving while using mobile phones.
One driver claimed they had been told off for using their phone despite it being stored away in a bag out of reach at the time of the alleged offence.
Another claimed the issuing officer was not swayed despite being told the offending phone was at home and not in the vehicle.
Scott Olds said to the Otago Daily Times he was driving down Barry Ave in Cromwell with his partner when they were pulled over by a police officer, who accused Mr Olds’ partner of using her phone while driving.
"She had a Crunchie bar in her hand ... When he requested her licence, she had to reach into her bag to grab her phone as her licence was in her phone case.
"But he was adamant."
Both he and his partner prided themselves on their safe driving, and they planned to challenge the infringement, which came with a $150 fine and 20 demerit points, he said.
He was "all for traffic enforcement" but in this case the ticketing was "unjust" and "categorically wrong".
Central Otago police are making no apology for upping their efforts to keep people safe on the district’s roads and said there were avenues for redress for anyone feeling unfairly ticketed.
Otago Lakes Central road policing manager Sergeant Steven Watt confirmed police had been undertaking a 12-week road safety operation, issuing about 2370 tickets in Queenstown, Wanaka, Cromwell and Alexandra over the period.
Their targets were drivers not wearing seatbelts, speeding or distracted, often by mobile phones, he said.
Police knew too well that those sorts of behaviours contributed to deaths and serious injuries on local roads.
"We will make no apology for our enforcement action, as we have seen over time that our enforcement action has proven to deter people from driving dangerously.
"While police work hard to ensure our roads are safe, we all have to take a greater responsibility to ensure everyone is safe on our roads."
He was not particularly bothered by the abuse on social media, especially as it worked to highlight the issues police were facing, Sgt Watt said.
"It’s just another outlet so people know we are focusing on it and we are issuing infringement notices on it."
Everyone had rights when issued with an infringement notice, including challenging it through the Police Infringement Bureau, he said.
If they did not get a satisfactory answer to their queries, they could take the matter to court.
