Thousands of motorists could be eligible for speeding ticket refunds after police mistakenly attached the name of a non-existent road to a speed camera in the South Island.
Newshub spoke to a man who received a speeding ticket from the central Otago camera, which said he was caught travelling above the posted 50km/h limit on "Mt Aspiring Rd".
Upon doing some research, the man realised no such road existed - so he took it up with the police himself.
"How is it possible, or even legal to get an Infringement notice on a road that does not legally exist... The closest legal road name is 'Wanaka Mount Aspiring Rd,'" he said in an Official Information Act request.
In response, police infringement bureau acting manager Reginald Gray confirmed the man's suspicions.
"Thank you for bringing your concerns to our attention. Upon an internal investigation, Police can confirm that an administrative error has occurred in which Wanaka Mount Aspiring Road was incorrectly registered in the... database as Mount Aspiring Road, Wanaka," Gray said.
"This has now been amended. As such, your infringement notice has been cancelled with immediate effect."
Other speeding ticket recipients were being contacted about the error, confirmed police.
"In December 2023, it was identified that the legal name for Wanaka Mt Aspiring Rd had been incorrectly recorded against a speed camera site on that road when the speed limit was changed in December 2020," a police spokesperson said in response to questions about the error.
When the error was corrected last year, police started the process of "trying to contact all notice recipients, with infringement fees refunded in applicable circumstances", the spokesperson said.
Police said 3126 speed camera notices with the incorrect road name were issued over a three-year period after the limit on Mt Aspiring Rd, in the area by the Roy's Peak Carkpark, reduced from 100km/h to 50km/h in 2019.
