Hastings District Council’s fine sweeper - a camera-covered car that catches out overstaying parkers - has snapped more than 5000 vehicles in five months.

The LPR (licence plate recognition) vehicle isn’t quite clever enough to issue tickets yet; that job falls to the team of four parking officers who take turns driving it.

But it is functioning “very efficiently”, a Hastings District Council spokesperson said.

From January 1 to June 1, 2025, the car pinged 5326 vehicles for parking infringements in Hastings and Havelock North.

In the same period, parking officers on foot ticketed 3926 vehicles for overstaying in metered and time-restricted spaces.

A council spokesperson said the car picks up on violations of time limits and photos of these are sent to the office for processing by the team, who then send out infringement notices.

The hybrid vehicle cost $73,000 and was funded out of parking income, not rates.

It has advanced technology in its roof and rear and a camera that takes photos of cars and tyres of parked vehicles.

The wheel images are reviewed by officers to determine if the vehicle has moved or not, while the licence plate identifies the offending vehicle.

Although it could “see in the dark”, the council doesn’t use it in the dark, a council spokesperson said.

Once the photos are taken, a parking officer evaluates the record and issues an infringement. They only issue infringements using the LPR for overstaying a zone, but time zones apply in all metered spaces.

The spokesperson said while the officers had not been abused while driving the car, this was still a problem for on-foot officers.

Asked if and when the car would pay for itself, the spokesperson said while there were benefits, there were significant ongoing costs of running the system.

These included “vehicle and running costs, infringement processing administration, IT systems and maintenance, infringement court filing fees and staff costs”.

However, they said the objective was to process offenders and keep staff safe.

The top three areas in Hastings where people are overstaying since the start of the year are Canning Rd, Lyndon Rd and Avenue East.

The smart car hit the streets in July 2024 but system function issues meant only warnings were sent out in the first few months.

LDR is local body journalism co-funded by RNZ and NZ On Air.