On the way to the North Pole, Santa was visiting a dementia unit "to put some smiles on the dials".
He promised to keep under the speed limit from now on. "You only live once and you die forever, so keep your speed down ... police are only doing their job and Santa deserved a ticket."
Masterton police acting Sergeant Shayne Nolan said not even Father Christmas was exempt from the zero speed tolerance.
Santa was driving 19km/h over the limit, which earned him a $120 ticket and 20 demerit points.
Nolan also wanted to remind Santa and others about the lower alcohol limit for drivers. "We want people to be mindful of the fact that we don't want Santa to get into trouble this year."
Bex Gibson as Santa, swimming inside one of the tanks at Kelly Tarlton's
Meanwhile, Kelly Tarlton's Sea Life Aquarium aquarist Bex Gibson delighted visiting kids, and kept the resident marine life happy too, when she dressed as Santa while feeding the aquarium's fish yesterday. Another staff member joined her dressed as an elf.
A spokeswoman said the dress-up was a Christmas tradition aimed at putting smiles on kids' faces. The fish weren't unhappy either.
"They're getting fed, that's all they care about. It doesn't matter how the people are dressed when there's food."