Senior Sergeant Steve Larking, of the Southern police district highway patrol, said the number of vehicles photographed crossing the clearly marked centre double-yellow lines on roads in the Kawarau Gorge area during the targeted operation was "extremely" disappointing.
Driving was an activity taken for granted most of the time and probably undertaken with little thought as to how dangerous driving on the roads could be.
"If you think about it, two vehicles can be travelling towards each other at speed with the only thing separating them being a painted line on the road.
"For many people, it is probably the most dangerous activity they undertake on a daily basis, unless they are into some form of extreme sport."
Snr Sgt Larking declined to reveal how many drivers had been caught crossing the centre line, but he called two of the incidents captured on camera "shocking".
Another image showed a vehicle towing a horse float, also on the wrong side of the road.
Snr Sgt Larking said the consequences could have been disastrous if a motorcycle had been travelling on the correct side of the road and had encountered the vehicle.
Many people in the Southern police district had been killed or received life-long injuries from crashes caused by lazy or inattentive drivers cutting corners or crossing the centre line, he said.
From his own experience dealing with victims of these sorts of crashes, a head-on crash at speed was one of the worst types of crash and almost always resulted in death or serious injury.
"It's horrendous what actually happens."
The drivers photographed by police over the holiday weekend could expect to be contacted by police and were liable to an infringement notice with a fine of $150.
Southern road policing manager Inspector Andrew Burns said so far this year five of the 24 fatal crashes and six of the 25 road deaths in Otago and Southland were caused when someone crossed the centre line.
