Govt hits back on unsafe car claim

The Government is subsidising the same dangerous vehicles it is proposing to ban, says National.

Party leader Simon Bridges said the Government’s proposed ‘‘feebate’’ scheme to reduce transport emissions was inconsistent with a pending proposal, understood to ban cars with ‘‘one star’’ safety ratings from New Zealand roads.

But Associate Transport Minister Julie Anne Genter has branded Bridges’ take as ‘‘scaremongering’’.

The Government’s feebate scheme puts a fee on the cost of high emissions cars, which is used to subsidise the cost of low emissions cars, including Electric Vehicles (EVS) and hybrids. Bridges warns this could see cars like the Suzuki Swift, with a one-star safety rating, subsidised, while five-star rated Ford Rangers get a $1400 fee.

‘‘Many of the cars identified by the Government as being cheaper as a result of its car tax also won’t meet import safety standards from 2020,’’ Bridges said.

Some of the cars that will be subsidised by the scheme have ratings so low they may be banned, according to a report obtained by RNZ, which said the Vehicle Standards and Certification Reference Group was looking to ban one and two-star vehicles from entering the national fleet.

Banning one-star and two-star vehicles was one of the top five priorities set out by the Vehicles, Vehicle Standards and Certification Reference Group – one of five groups advising the Government on its new road safety strategy.

That did not make it Government policy, but Bridges said it seemed emissions reduction was being prioritised over road safety.

Genter said: ‘‘National are desperately scaremongering as they have no plan to improve safety and tackle climate change. Under the former government, the number of people killed on our roads increased by over 50 per cent in the four years from 2013.

‘‘We have safety standards and we are proposing emissions standards – we will not be subsiding unsafe cars. Different models of the same car have different safety ratings – many versions of the Suzuki Swift for example, have 5 star ratings. It is simply untrue to claim that unsafe cars will be subsidised – all imported cars have to meet minimum safety standards.’’

The EV policy would make some cars up to $8000 cheaper – while others would be $3000 more expensive. The scheme phases in from 2021 to 2028, so cars like a used Suzuki Swift, which has a one-star safety rating, will be subsidised by $800 in its first year, with the subsidy gradually switching to a $500 fee by 2028.

But all pre-2014 models of the Suzuki Swift would be banned from import into New Zealand under the new rules being considered by the Government. The report calculated that about 45 per cent of cars had a safety rating of one or two stars, and about 65 per cent of deaths and serious injuries on the road were in those cars.

Ministry of Transport year-todate figures showed 112 people have died on the country’s roads in 2019, up until April 7. A black week on the country’s roads in early April saw 28 people die in 10 days.