Driving and traffic law

Enforcement powers of police and parking wardens

Overview

The main traffic legislation, the Land Transport Act 1998, gives police officers a range of traffic enforcement powers.

Land Transport Act 1998, s 2 

Those powers also extend to certain other traffic enforcement staff who come within the definition of “enforcement officer,” the term used by the Land Transport Act meaning:

• police officers
• other police employees authorised by the Police Commissioner to be enforcement officers, and other people appointed to the role by the Commissioner (they can be appointed for specific purposes only – for example, the local council transport staff who are appointed as official ticket inspectors with the fare evasion powers in the Land Transport Act (see: “Riding buses and trains without paying: ‘Fare evasion’”)
• employees of the New Zealand Transport Agency (NZTA) appointed as enforcement officers for certain purposes, such as enforcing rules about driving hours and logbooks
• the New Zealand Transport Agency (NZTA), in relation to “infringement notices” for “moving vehicle offences”.

Note: Parking wardens aren’t “enforcement officers”. Parking wardens have a specific set of powers (see: “Parking wardens: Their powers”).