More than 150,000 drivers have been disqualified in the past three years.
Many others also had their licences suspended because of demerit points breaches.
Figures obtained by Radio New Zealand under the Official Information Act show 162,727 licences were disqualified by the courts in the past three financial years.
The Transport Agency says 155,000 licences were disqualified for up to a year, for offences such as drink driving and other traffic offences.
Court-imposed sentences were tougher in 7000 other cases.
NZTA says about 20,000 demerit points suspensions are issued on average every year.
