Did you hear the one about the mother in Southland who tried to get off her speeding ticket by telling the police officer she was yelling at her children?

When it comes to speeding, New Zealand Police have heard it all, and in Alexandra they have been spun a few good stories too.

“Is this all you have to do?” Senior Constable Graham Perkins has been asked, along with “go and catch some real criminals,” and cheekily “we pay your wages,” even crops up from time to time.

There have been stuck jandals to stressed out dogs and a mother who was going 40km/hr over the speed limit who explained to police she got distracted while telling her children off.

Despite the excuses, NZ Police’s new speeding campaign was no laughing matter, and officers will be out in full force keeping our roads safe this summer.

Southern District road policing manager Inspector Brent Kingsland said while there was no excuse to speed, the reasons they heard on the daily were too funny not to share, but also hoped through the humour people would realise the consequence to their actions.

“From ‘I’ve never had a ticket before, can I have a warning?’ to ‘I didn’t see the speed sign’, our police have heard everything,” Inspector Kingsland said.

“There’s nothing funny about attending a death on our roads.

“Every opportunity we can take to reduce speeds, even by a fraction, has the potential to make a huge difference to safety on our roads.”

Inspector Kingsland said officers heard the same old excuses from drivers when they’re caught speeding, time and time again.

But, police often also have to witness the horrific consequences when there’s a crash.

Among some of the other excuses police have heard was 'there isn’t a speed limit here, it’s a passing lane and you can go as fast as you like to overtake safely'.

Then there's the 'it’s not me, blame the car,’ mentality.

"But it’s not, it’s the driver,” he said.

“In a crash, even when you’re not at fault, speed remains the single biggest factor in whether you and your passengers walk away or are carried away.

“It’s simple: less speed means less harm.

“We want you to get to your destination, so slow down, drive to the speed limit and drive to the conditions. And, know that you can expect to see Police out on the roads – anytime and anywhere.”