John Williamson: Warrant of fitness, registration checks by parking wardens essential

If parking wardens are checking a vehicle's warrant of fitness and registration as part of their duties, in the interest of road safety, then that's all good and fine, says John Williamson. Photo / NZME

ON THE ROAD

No one could fail to be impressed by the way the rural community mobilised for the Howl of a Protest and descended on our towns and cities.

I was amused by the cartoon in one rural newspaper with the caption, "Some ponsy parking warden gave me a ticket for no warrant of fitness or registration plates on my tractor." It could only happen in a cartoon because no parking warden would have been brave enough to be eyeing up tractors on that day.

It does raise the question, though, about the legality of no WOF or rego on tractors on city streets, and how do we police these requirements on our everyday vehicles anyway?

Far North District Council recently announced its parking warden is being authorised to check up on whether vehicles in public places are registered and warranted, as part of their everyday role.

Many districts do it now, but this is a new one for the Far North. It is being promoted as a road safety measure to ensure all vehicles are registered legal and warranted safe to be on their public roads, as a means of bringing the horrendous Far North road toll down.

All vehicles must be registered for the road as part of on-road costs. They then pay an annual licence fee which, for cars, is $109.16 a year.

The largest portion of this fee goes to ACC as every motorist's contribution to the personal lifelong costs of motor accidents.

The second-largest bit goes to the National Land Transport Fund to contribute to the maintenance and development of our roads. The balance pays some administration and GST.

So unlicensed vehicles do not pay their fair share of the cost of accidents and road maintenance, and arguably have the greater potential to cause crashes.

The WOF identifies a car as safe to be on the road. For all vehicles registered after 2000, this is an annual check up, which involves a 70-item checklist. Pre-2000 vehicles need to have it six monthly.

The main factors are brakes, tyres, lights, suspension, seatbelts and under-body structure. The WOF inspection regime is a completely private enterprise system with costs in Whangārei varying from $45 to $65.

The arbitrary 2000 date was set in 2013 and may not now reflect the relative safety of the vehicle fleet. A recent report indicated that 41 per cent of vehicles fail their first WOF inspection and this percentage has been steadily rising since 2013.

It is a real cause for concern that, with most vehicles being inspected only annually, almost half our vehicles will fail the WOF inspection.

So if Far North District Council is responding to the increasingly unsafe nature of our vehicle fleet, and the inequitable contribution to ACC and the roading budget, then it is to be applauded.

Critics, though, cite an uneven burden on those who can least afford it and as merely revenue gathering.

In many country areas the car is the only means of getting to healthcare, education, sports, family and community gatherings. Money is tight and the roads are pretty rough so the cost of car maintenance is high, and the rego and WOF are just another cost of living.

The $200 fine translates to an unpaid fine and contributes to the downward spiral into the criminal justice system. So it's a fair point.

There's no doubt also, that the $200 fine is sufficient incentive for the parking warden to be more vigilant as opposed to the $10 parking ticket.

I was the Whangarei district councillor who moved the notice of motion in 2011 to include WOF and rego checks as part of the district's parking wardens duties.

The vote was not unanimous, with opponents citing lack of evidence about contribution to road safety and revenue gathering - but we passed the motion. During the first few months an average of 500 vehicles a month were ticketed, at $200 a pop.

That's an annual $1 million unbudgeted revenue line and a nice little earner.

Legal for the road and safe to be on the road is what we should all expect from the cars we encounter in our everyday drive. Revenue gathering it is, but if WOF and rego checks make our road safer, then so be it.

• John Williamson is chairman of Roadsafe Northland and Northland Road Safety Trust, a former national councillor for NZ Automobile Association, and former Whangārei District Council member.