Vehicles not properly regulated

The New Zealand Transport Agency (NZTA) has not been properly regulating vehicle safety, leading to more dangerous vehicles on the road.

Transport Minister Phil Twyford said ‘‘years of underfunding’’ had led to NZTA failing to always make vehicles safe for the road.

The agency had not been properly checking up on companies that certify vehicle safety and give out licences, and when problems were identified, they were often not followed up.

A former employee told Stuff the problems went very deep, with an agency-wide focus on cost cutting and a failed ‘‘willingcompliance’’ model.

A review has been announced by the NZTA board, to be conducted by law firm Meredith Connell.

Heavy vehicles were in particular a problem area, with fewer staff for the sector after a 2014 change, and too many companies getting too much leeway on issues like too-heavy loads and bad log-keeping.

But the issue spanned the sector, including companies that gave out warrants of fitness, licenses, and some operators of heavy vehicles.

There was 850 open compliance A former employee who spoke to Stuff on the condition of anonymity said he left the agency after years of frustration.

He said some managers had come back from overseas with the idea of a ‘‘willing compliance’’ model, which basically mandated that non-compliant operators should be ‘‘educated’’ and not prosecuted.

‘‘All that had to happen was that they had to be educated. That never worked,’’ he said.

‘‘That went right throughout the agency. They were just trying to save money. It was going to cost too much to enforce.

‘‘We were getting taxi drivers driving 32 hours without a break. You’ve got truck drivers out there doing the exactly same thing – going well over their hours.’’

Transport officers did their best but were hampered by a lack of resources. ‘‘There was too much work to do, not enough resources to do it, and not enough willpower within management to prosecute.’’ files that had been essentially gathering dust.

These are now being looked into, with urgent work on just over 150 to prioritise safety.

Board chairman Michael Stiassny said the system had to be improved, and enforcement had been the last resort for too long.

‘‘The reliance on the industry to self-regulate has not worked.’’

Stiassny said there were no accidents that could be shown to relate to these issues at this stage.

The way the regulator had worked had allowed companies to basically set the agenda, with too much of a focus on ‘‘educating’’ instead of enforcing regulation. READ MORE

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