Old cars more likely to kill us
Old cars are killing us but consumer choice and financial implications mean no-one is looking to scrap them.
New Zealand has one of the oldest vehicle fleets in the OECD (Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development) and despite efforts to bring our light vehicle fleet up to a higher standard, the process is not straightforward. With almost all vehicles imported, the best our Government can do is impose regulations on cars coming from abroad.
The light vehicle fleet has an average age of 14 years old, and it’s getting older.
In 2009, the average age of vehicles coming into the country was 12.5 years.
According to the NZ Transport Agency, the proportion of new vehicles entering the fleet is ‘‘very low’’ and people can still buy cars which do not have an ANCAP (Australasian New Car Assessment Programme) safety rating.
Older vehicles are not equipped with some of the safety features of their more modern counterparts, and lead to more crash deaths and serious injuries.
Analysis by the Ministry of Transport to June last year shows people involved in a crash in a car 20 years old or more were 60 per cent more likely to die or suffer serious injuries compared with those in a car which was 10 years old.
Twenty per cent of New Zealand’s cars are more than 20 years old.
As part of the Government’s Safe System, imported cars have to have electronic stability control (ESC) from March 2020.
The same applies to new vehicles which gained road certification after June 2015, and used vehicles with an engine bigger than 2 litres which hit the roads from March this year. There are exceptions, mainly for special interest vehicles such as classic cars.
Other safety features are also being looked at, such as autonomous emergency braking (AEB), fatigue warning system, seatbelt reminder, lane-keep assist, and intersection collision warning systems.
But none are mandatory and, for practical and political reasons, phasing out our existing, ageing fleet is not on the agenda. While new standards are being looked at for imported vehicles, the Ministry of Transport said the implications needed to be looked at – including the financial impact. ‘‘Updating New Zealand’s vehicle fleet has impacts on supply and consumer choice,’’ safety and mobility manager Brent Johnston said. ‘‘It particularly impacts lower-income households.’’
Associate Transport Minister Julie Anne Genter acknowledged modern safety features could be the difference between life and death in a crash. They were being considered as part of a potential Vision Zero policy, which had been successful in countries like Sweden, Norway and Australia.
Genter also hoped to take a paper to Cabinet later this month requiring all imported motorbikes to be fitted with anti-lock braking systems.
The technology would help to prevent skidding and potentially reduce motorcycle crashes by up to 33 per cent.