Christchurch police say they are doubling the number of officers on the roads to crack down on traffic offences.
The police say there has been an increase in such offending since last month's earthquake, including drivers running red lights, failing to wear seat belts and using cellphones.
Christchurch area commander Derek Erasmus says for the past four weeks police have been lenient on drivers who break the law, but that is about to change.
He says travel times around the city have doubled since the earthquake, and road rage could be the reason for the increase in traffic offences.
Meanwhile, more than 1400 cars had been recovered by police and urban search and rescue teams from within the badly-damaged central city.
By Monday, 836 cars had been removed from public carparking buildings, and another 579 from street parks.
Vehicles were to be recovered from the Lichfield Street car parking building on Wednesday.
People with a query about the recovery of their vehicle should begin by going to the police website - www.police.govt.nz.
