In 2020, there were 6,846 people on remand for traffic and vehicle regulatory offences. A large number, but not wildly out of step with the previous decade.

Then COVID hit. Courts slowed. Remand numbers for traffic offences dropped sharply: 4,512 in 2021, 4,566 in 2022. It looked like the system was clearing out.

It wasn't. By 2023, the figure had begun climbing again: 4,734. And in 2024, it exploded. 8,367 people were on remand for traffic and vehicle offences. That's the highest level since 2009, and nearly double the 2023 figure. (Source: Stats NZ, remand-prisoners)

This isn't about more dangerous drivers. This is about people waiting in cells before they've been convicted of anything.

Remand means you haven't been sentenced yet. You're waiting for trial, or sentencing, or some other court process. And for traffic offences, that wait has gotten dramatically longer. The backlog that looked like it was easing in 2021 and 2022 has come roaring back, and then some.

What changed? Courts are under pressure. Judges are stretched. Cases are stacking up. And while violent crime and serious offending get the headlines, thousands of people are sitting on remand for things like driving while disqualified, breaching license conditions, or vehicle regulatory breaches.

Some of those people will have committed serious repeat offences. Some won't. But all of them are taking up space in a system that was already overcrowded before this surge began.

The 2024 figure represents a 77% increase in just one year. To find a comparable number, you have to go back 15 years. That's not a blip. That's a system failing to process people at anything close to a reasonable pace.

Here's the thing about remand: it's expensive. Every person on remand costs the taxpayer money. They're in custody, but they haven't been convicted. Some will eventually be found not guilty. Some will be convicted but given non-custodial sentences. Either way, they've already done time.

The trajectory is clear. After dropping during the pandemic, remand numbers for traffic offences have not just recovered. They've shot past every level of the past decade and a half. And unless something changes in how courts handle these cases, 2025 is unlikely to look any better.