The Police Minister's blaming the previous government's priorities for the high number of road policing jobs being unfilled.

More than a hundred road policing jobs are vacant, about ten percent of the total number of roles.

READ MORE: 100 less police on NZ roads as road toll soars

Police Minister Stuart Nash said it's because the the Police force has been under-funded and over-stretched.

"They were asked to investigate every single burglary, and so the resource has to come from somewhere, and it has come from areas like road policing. It's unacceptable, there is no doubt about that."

Nash reiterated his government's promise to employ 1800 more police over the next three years.

However, he won't make short term directives to Police to divert officers into road policing.

"So there will be more police on the road over time. It's not going to happen overnight, obviously, but given our three year plan, Kiwis will see more officers enforcing the law and making sure that New Zealanders get to their destination safely."