The Government is accelerating progress on its bold work programme to modernise New Zealand’s land transport rules, with public consultation beginning today on three significant areas of work, Transport Minister Chris Bishop has confirmed.
“These changes are about increasing our transport system’s productivity and safety. The current rules are riddled with outdated or nonsensical requirements which create unnecessary burdens for Kiwis,” Mr Bishop says.
The consultations will focus on:
- Reviewing Warrant of Fitness (WoF) and Certificate of Fitness A (CoF A) frequency and inspection requirements for light vehicles
- Simplifying heavy vehicle permitting
- Considering additional safety requirements for vehicles entering the fleet
Associate Transport Minister James Meager says the WoF and CoF A reviews are a commonsense opportunity to modernise the country’s vehicle inspection approach.
“New Zealand currently has one of the most frequent regimes globally. We want to make sure we’re not placing unnecessary costs or time pressures on Kiwis, while still keeping everyone safe on the road,” Mr Meager says.
“We’re looking at how other jurisdictions handle this. For example, Europe checks light vehicles every two years, and most states in Australia and provinces in Canada only require a WOF when the vehicle changes ownership, or when a defect is identified.”
“A simplification of heavy vehicle requirements is also on the table. This includes reviewing whether 50MAX trucks permits and the display of “H” signs is still needed. We’re also looking at more efficient options to update key log truck code of practice, to reduce red tape and make it easier for industry to comply,” Mr Bishop says.
The Government is also investigating the case for mandating additional safety features in most vehicles entering our fleet, such as Automatic Emergency Braking, Lane Keep Support systems, and Acoustic Vehicle Alerting Systems to further protect road users.
“These reforms are about bringing our land transport regulation into the 21st century. We want to remove costly inefficiencies and put money back into the pockets of Kiwis to drive our economy forward,” Mr Bishop says.