Wait to see safety effect of changed WOF regime

MOTORISTS’ pockets will benefit when new warrant of fitness regulations come into play next year, but the impact on road safety will not be known for a few years, motor industry experts say.

The changes were confirmed yesterday, with Transport Minister Gerry Brownlee saying they would save New Zealanders $1.8 billion over 30 years ‘‘without compromising road safety outcomes’’.

From January all vehicles weighing less than 3.5 tonnes that were registered in New Zealand between 2004 and 2008 will require annual rather than six-monthly warrant of fitness checks, with the change extended to vehicles registered since 2000 from July 1 next year.

The Government is putting the onus on owners to ensure their vehicles are safe, and police will be required to play a larger role in keeping unsafe ones off the road.

The changes bring New Zealand more into line with most other countries, though critics say they could lead to more crashes related to faulty vehicles, which are implicated in about 2.5 per cent of all crashes at present.

Motor Trade Association spokesman Ian Stronach said it would be about two years before it was known whether the changes would affect road safety.

Although the MTA had opposed the changes at first, it would now throw its weight behind the Government’s efforts to ensure people took responsibility for ensuring their vehicles were safe, he said.

Police Association president Greg O’Connor said that though it supported the changes, they would increase pressure on police.

‘‘Police are under pressure to deliver more road policing now and . . . the hours that will need to be spent on this particular aspect of it will have to come from somewhere because there are no more police.’’

Labour’s Iain Lees-Galloway said he would wait to see what impact the changes had on police, including whether the promised $2.5 million to $5m in extra funding was enough to cover the