Tauranga shoppers who forget to renew their warrant of fitness and registration can heave a sigh of relief.
City councillors yesterday narrowly rejected staff advice to halve the two-month grace period for expired warrants and regos.
The five to four vote meant anyone whose vehicle was unwarranted or unregistered for up to two months would continue to automatically escape paying a $200 fine, provided they could make their car legal within 14 days. Staff wanted to go back to the pre-2011 situation where the grace period was one month, arguing that two months was at odds with the Government's road safety strategy, Safer Journeys.
"By allowing two months' grace, you are allowing large numbers of potentially unsafe vehicles to be driven around our streets," council transportation operations manager Martin Parkes said.
Councillor Terry Molloy challenged him to come up with any evidence that the council would be making the roads safer by going back to the one-month timeframe.