NEEDS FEEDBACK

In October 2015, Accident Compensation Corporation (ACC) levies, which we all pay as a percentage of our yearly vehicle registration fees, went under the knife following the implementation of a vehicle risk-rating system — on average, users ended up paying around a third less. The reason for the ACC fee is to give you no-fault cover for road-related accidents, so it makes sense that the new vehicle risk-rating system — a first in New Zealand — should recognize that some vehicles do a better job of protecting their occupants and other road users in the event of a crash, because of added occupant and pedestrian safety features, by charging these cars a lower levy. All cars on New Zealand roads have now been categorized into one of four risk-rating bands, allocated using real-world crash data whenever possible. As you can imagine, it’s a massive database, and, like any system, there is always room for improvement. That’s why the call has been put out for public input on a few points. In 2015, members of the public were invited to have their say before the risk-rating system was formed; now, the ACC would like to know what you think about how the vehicles have been allocated into the bands. It also wants your feedback on capping movement across the riskrating bands, so that vehicles don’t jump across too many bands each levy year. You can view the proposed levy rates for 2016–’17 at shapeyouracc.co.nz, as well as provide feedback relating to the risk-rating bands. This is a chance to have a say in decisions that affect all of us road users, so have a look.