In only half an hour, an Otago Daily Times photographer found 11 cars with lapsed registrations, one of which also had a lapsed warrant of fitness, in North Rd, Gladstone Rd and Opoho Rd.
In the same time frame, five cars with lapsed registrations were found in Holylake St in Outram, including one car with no sign of being registered at all.
Automobile Association Otago district council chairman Malcolm Budd, of Dunedin, said he had noticed the large number of unlicensed vehicles, which he found "quite concerning".
"Every vehicle should be registered and warranted to be operated on the road," Mr Budd said.
If cars were not properly registered, they were unlikely to have a warrant of fitness, which was a safety issue, Mr Budd said.
Vehicle registrations were important because they helped pay for road maintenance, which contributed to safe journeys.
Road safety was a big issue and the road toll was likely to be extremely high this year, he said.
While people might have forgotten to pay their registrations, Waka Kotahi NZ Transport Agency sent out reminders and people needed to act responsibly.
It was not clear how the insurance industry would look at it, but if the vehicle was unregistered and unwarranted, insurance could be invalid if the vehicle was involved in a crash, Mr Budd said.
He had a simple message for drivers who had not kept their registration tickets up to date: "They should have their vehicles registered and warranted and if not they should be prosecuted accordingly".
A police spokeswoman said while police had the ability to give out infringement notices for stationary vehicles, the issue was referred to councils.
A similar approach was taken with abandoned vehicles and illegal parking, the spokeswoman said.
A Dunedin City Council spokeswoman said it issued cars with lapsed or expired registrations or warrants parked on publicly administered roads with $200 infringement notices, as per the Land Transport Act 1998.
While Waka Kotahi was responsible for collecting vehicle licensing revenue, the council continued to apply the legislation as appropriate.
Parking wardens were responsible for issuing infringement notices and the council welcomed contact from Dunedin residents on any matter, including concerns about vehicles.
"If we are contacted about any Land Transport Act breaches regarding vehicles, a parking warden will assess on site and follow up, as appropriate," the spokeswoman said.
