Christchurch police are frustrated with drivers who refuse to admit they have broken the law despite video footage proving otherwise.
Sergeant Peter Daly of the intersection safety team said every day his team had to deal with people who "haven't done what we've seen them do".
If many people were as innocent as they said they were, his officers must be making up all the incidents and "no one out there is breaking the law", Mr Daly said.
In one instance a driver who had been given a ticket for running a yellow light wrote to police saying he had only run the light because there was a car following him too closely and there would have been an accident if he had stopped.
However, video surveillance showed there was no car behind him.
After viewing it the driver paid up promptly.
Mr Daly said there were many drivers who did admit culpability.
"I have greater respect for them than for those who will argue otherwise, even though the facts speak for themselves."
