A mother speeding down the Waikato Expressway at 114kmh had a baby on her lap and the car seat in the boot.

Police have condemned the woman's 'potentially disastrous” driving and referred her to the appropriate agencies, Waikato district road policing manager Inspector Freda Grace says.

The ticket issued to a mother who was stopped for speeding on the Waikato Expressway. Photo: Waikato Road Policing Team/Facebook

The woman was stopped on Sunday on State Highway 1.

'It's absolutely heart-wrenching and extremely disappointing when we pull over a vehicle for speeding, and walk alongside the vehicle only to find a young child lying across its mothers lap, and another child lying unrestrained in the front seat with the seat folded back,” police says on their Waikato Road Policing facebook page.

'Worst of all the baby seat was in the boot.”

The woman was fined a total of $380 - $80 for exceeding the 100km/h speed limit, $150 for failing to ensure a child under seven was in an approved child restraint, and $150 for the child in the front seat being unrestrained.

She also collected 20 demerit points.

'First and foremost it's potentially disastrous for the family,” Grace says.

'It's fine for people to do what they want with their children but it has to be safe.

'That's something people don't often think about - what if something goes wrong and you end up with life changing injuries, or worse, a death.

Grace says road safety partners were constantly working to make roads safer, but all the road safety in the world couldn't prevent drivers from making bad decisions.

'If people still chose to make poor decisions around how they drive we are going to continue to see really poor outcomes.”

Many commenters on the Waikato Road Policing facebook page says they thought the penalty was not harsh enough.

'Thats disgusting and whats worse is the pitifull amount that they have to pay. Thats our justice system for you, $300.00 is the price for the life of 2 children. It should be at lease twice that much!! [sic]”, Lynette Moore says.

'The fines for children unrestrained needs to be higher as well as demerits points. This behaviour is completely unacceptable!” commenter Sonya Kooiman says.

Grace says police could only work within the legal framework set by government.

'The law is the law, and the law has been applied here.

'Everything we do on the road - all the people that we stop, all the people who get infringement notices for speeding or warnings, is all ensuring the safety of those using the roads.

'This is exceptionally disappointing.”

Meanwhile, a large number of people were being reported for poor driving through the *555 phoneline, Grace says.

She urged those still making their way home from holiday to be patient on the roads and take their time.

'Most of our roads are one lane in each direction, some follow a narrow coast. Just stay relaxed and exercise patience.”

As of Monday afternoon, the national road toll for the holiday period was 10. The holiday period officially ends at 6am on Tuesday.

Fourteen people died in the holiday period over the 2014/15 season.

- Stuff