ANNUAL WOF’S WANTED FOR HERITAGE VEHICLES

For more than a year the Governmentinitiated review of the Vehicle Licensing/ WoF regime has effectively focussed the NZFOMC executive on how to keep costs down for heritage motorists and our cars on the road in the face of evolving rules and technology.

During the consultation process on the proposed Land Transport Rule changes, a number of still unresolved issues have arisen in relation to how inspection requirements should be applied to veteran, vintage and other heritage vehicles.

The Ministry of Transport took note of the submissions from the NZFOMC, other motoring organizations, and individual owners which argued that heritage vehicles should be subject to less frequent inspections as they usually have lower usage than other vehicles. It was also accepted that though such vehicles were usually well-maintained, they could not be expected to meet the safety standards of modern vehicles.

But while agreeing that any increased safety risks generated by making specific arrangements for heritage vehicles would be small, transport policy analysts concluded the economic benefits of reducing WoF checks for heritage vehicles would be limited and could also be expected to increase implementation costs.

In May more submissions were sought on what the frequency requirements for the in-service inspections of older vehicles such as veteran or vintage cars should be, and whether the current definitions accurately depict vehicles commonly referred to as ‘veteran’ and ‘vintage’ motor vehicles?

The transport legislation defines ‘veteran motor vehicles’ as those manufactured before 1 January 1919, and ‘vintage motor vehicles’ as all others manufactured after 1 January 1919 and at least 40 years old on the date that they were registered, reregistered or licensed.

The problem for the Government is how to separate fully restored and well maintained heritage vehicles from clapped out old cars more than thirty or forty years old and being driven by people with neither the money nor the moral responsibility to keep their vehicles roadworthy.

One of our options is to suggest to the Government that heritage vehicles belonging to club members could be separately identified by stickers, a database register, or different coloured number plates.

But the Vintage Car Club and others are justifiably concerned that once a process is in place to separate heritage vehicles from the main vehicle fleet, it will only be a matter of time before rules are introduced to restrict when they can be driven on public roads, as has happened in other countries.

Another possibility put forward by Consumer NZ is that heritage vehicles which pass two WOF checks with no faults could then be reassigned to annual inspections.

While a review of the previous submissions indicates a 12 month WoF period for all vehicles would have produced the best economic outcome, the Government appears to have supported the chosen option because it is more gradual and gives the inspection industry time to adjust.

It also reflects submitters’ concerns about the safety of ‘older cars’ such as highmileage 1990s Jap-imports still in daily use.

However, it is projected that in about 10 years time, only 13% of the fleet will still be on a 6-monthly WoF, so a future anomaly has been created which will become increasingly untenable. Under the selected option, it will be mainly the owners of vintage and classic vehicles, and trailers and caravans remaining on six-monthly inspections, despite low use.

Annual Warrants of Fitness for lighter vehicles first registered between 2004 and 2008 are likely to be introduced from October this year. And it is expected that cars first registered between 2000 and 2003 will roll over to an annual WoF from 1 April 2014.

The phase-in is apparently intended to even out the impact of the changes on the inspection industry which would otherwise be hit by uneven demand for WoFs throughout the year.

But, at this stage, all vehicles registered before 2000 will continue to require a six-monthly WoF until the Government is persuaded the annual inspection regime can be efficiently extended to cover the heritage fleet.

So now is a good time for nonmember clubs and individual collector vehicle owners to join with the NZFOMC in achieving what could be the most important policy change to affect the heritage vehicle sector in a long time.

Not only are we pushing for a reduced frequency of WoF inspections for veteran and vintage vehicles, but also a reduction in the age definition of vintage vehicles from 40 to just 30 years which should result in lower licensing fees for younger heritage vehicles.