Wellington, Wednesday, 19 September 2012

Predicted savings? Is it worth the risk?

Independent vehicle safety expert VTNZ says plans to save motorists time and money could have the exact opposite effect – and see an increase in the number of road accidents.

The Ministry of Transport and NZ Transport Agency today suggested several options for reducing cost to motorists through less frequent vehicle inspections and changes to registration payment.

“We support any initiative to make the licensing more efficient and use advances in technology to reduce costs for motorists,” VTNZ Chief Executive Mike Walsh said today, “but the options need to be well-informed and we’ll be making comprehensive submissions on these options.

“Efficiency gains and short-term cost reductions need to be weighed up against the potential impact on safety. On the face of it, the potential risks are too high and could lead to a significant increase in road accidents.”

Walsh says international research into links between vehicle defects and crashes varies greatly, but it’s ironic that while NZ is looking to relax our inspection system, Europe and the US are looking to tighten theirs.

“Modern cars are built to better standards, but even newer cars wear out tyres and brakes and our roads are some of the toughest in the world. The average age of the New Zealand vehicle fleet is 13 years and one thing we can be sure of is that age and mileage increase the number of defects.

“At the moment half of all cars going for warrants will not pass without some repairs – if the period between inspections doubles, then the number of defects will also increase, quite likely at a faster rate if you think of the compounding or snowballing effect.”

Walsh says most drivers use their WoF as their regular safety and maintenance check. People are used to paying a little, regularly, to keep their car safe – moving to annual checks is also likely to see the average repair bill increase and outweigh any savings.

“Changing behaviour takes time, and there could be significant costs in police enforcement and education that will add to taxpayer costs somewhere else. At the same time, there’s a greater risk of accidents and road deaths.

“No matter how new your car is, or how well you look after it, there’s usually only a white line separating you from the vehicle coming the other way.”

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