Police issued tickets to six drivers using cellphones during a one-hour operation in central Dunedin yesterday.
Sergeant Andrew Bardsley of the Strategic Traffic Unit, said the operation at the intersection of Castle and St Andrew Sts was targeting intersection behaviour. One officer was used as a "spotter" and officers further along the road stopped drivers.
About 30 tickets were issued, six of them to people either talking or texting on their cellphones while driving.
It was unusual to issue so many tickets in one operation, and disappointing after people had been so good following the introduction of the ban on cellphones in November last year, Sgt Bardsley said.
Two people were given tickets for driving through red lights, while the remainder, about 20 drivers, were ticketed for not wearing seat belts.
Seatbelts appeared to be a particular issue with people in light utility vehicles or vans, who were perhaps often in and out of their vehicles for work, but they must be worn while driving at all times, unless a driver had a specific exemption, he said.
