An Oamaru speed camera continues to be the South's busiest, clocking more than twice as many speeding drivers this year than the rest of the region's fixed cameras combined.
The camera, in Wansbeck St, does, however, appear to be having some impact, the amount of speeding drivers caught on it this year is half the amount recorded the first year the camera was working.
Police say it is good news and shows penalties are effective in deterring unsafe driving behaviour.
The Wansbeck St camera recorded drivers speeding 13,000 times between January and September this year.
The camera is on a hill on a straight stretch in a 50kmh zone several hundred metres from the southern entrance/exit to the town.
In 2018, its first year of operation, it caught drivers speeding 25,946 times.
That year the camera earned $2,251,680 in fines.
If this year's average rate continued beyond September, about $1million in fines are likely to be collected.
September, the camera was the seventh-highest earner in the country with $786,740 in fines.
In the South, the total fines from it were just ahead of those from the roaming speed camera operating in the wider Coastal Otago police area.
Police data also shows that the number of vehicles passing the Wansbeck St camera at any speed increased since the camera was installed, while the number of drivers speeding decreased.
The camera was by far the busiest of the five static cameras operating in the Southern police district.
Of the three static cameras in Dunedin, the fixed camera on the city's southern motorway at Burnside captured the most speeding this year with drivers caught 4108 times, while the MacLaggan St camera in the central city recorded people speeding 1580 times and the King Edward St camera in South Dunedin caught 101.
Southland's only stationary speed camera, in Otatara Rd near Invercargill Airport, caught people speeding 4078 times.
Meanwhile, the South's roaming speed cameras, one each in the police areas of Coastal Otago, Central Lakes and Southland, captured drivers speeding a total 27,600 times, with the most offending happening in the Coastal Otago area.
Between them, the three cameras caught speeding that resulted in $1.6m in fines.
Across Otago and Southland in total, drivers were caught speeding 50,078 times in the nine-month period, with just over $3m in fines resulting.
Speeding caught on officer-operated devices, such as radars, is not included in the figures.
Southern road policing manager Inspector Craig Brown said police were always disappointed when they saw drivers choosing to speed, as it was often a factor in death and serious injury crashes.
They were happy with the declining number of tickets being issued in Wansbeck St.
"It's a positive thing and shows that people are learning to slow down."
Penalties "of an influential nature" were effective in deterring unsafe driving behaviours, including speeding, Insp Brown said.
"Speed is a major factor in whether you walk away from a crash or are carried away.
A small change in speed makes a big difference to injury severity in a crash _ for you and everyone else involved."
Speed cameras were one of a range of systems used to improve road safety and were effective in reducing mean speeds and influencing compliance with speed limits.
He said when asked what the point was of having a speed camera in South Dunedin's King Edward St, where people were caught speeding only 101 times this year, that the camera might not catch many, but it reminded drivers that there were consequences for exceeding the speed limit.
"We would rather see everyone drive to the speed limit and not have to issue any tickets."
He asked anyone who was driving over the holiday period to "please make good decisions behind the wheel".
"Police and our partners will be doing our part, but ultimately, we need drivers to follow the rules".
A static speed camera on SH1 between Glover St and the Newlands Rd overbridge in Wellington was New Zealand's top hitter for the nine months to September this year, with 29,646 tickets dished out resulting in $2,077,190 worth of fines.
