Christchurch Police are frustrated by drivers who (perhaps genuinely) believe that they have not done anything wrong despite video surveillance showing that they have broken the law.
Sergeant Peter Daly of the Intersection Safety team says that every day his team are dealing with people who 'haven't done what we've seen them do.'
"Many drivers will admit that that they have done something wrong," he says. "I have greater respect for them than for those who will argue otherwise, even though the facts speak for themselves."
Sergeant Daly says that if as many people were as innocent as claim they are, his officers must be making up all these incidents and 'no one out there is breaking the law.'
In a classic recent example a driver was stopped and given a ticket at Blenheim/ Curletts Road after they failed to comply with a yellow traffic light. The driver then wrote giving his version of events.
The driver's letter in summary said;
He did not fail to comply with yellow light.
The car behind was so close he had to keep going.
The car behind also went through the light so it must have been legal to do so.
If he hadn't gone, the car behind would have crashed into him.
"I am very disappointed with the New Zealand Police for wasting my time, effort and money on a matter which should not have involved me. I did not break the law." the letter states.
After viewing the video the driver paid up promptly. The video shows the blue station wagon in the right lane, and there is no car behind it!
Christchurch Police put together a team of eight to specifically police intersections in October last year. Sergeant Daly says more than half injury crashes occur at intersections.
"This is not a campaign; my team are here to stay and this is what we do every day."