Merit points considered in revamp of demerit system

NZTA have admitted improvements are needed with the demerit system. Photo / File

Good drivers could be given merit points as part of new measures to improve the demerit system.

The New Zealand Transport Agency's road safety director, Ernst Zollner, stopped short of saying the demerit system was not working, but admitted to Radio New Zealand that improvements were needed.

Mr Zollner said the agency was working on several ideas, including a merit system for drivers who never get tickets, and demerit points for those caught by fixed cameras.

"There's a few other ideas, for example you have stepped fines: on your first offence you've gone 60km/h in a 50km/h zone and you get a $30 fine, your next ticket might be $60 and your next one after that, $120."

No decisions on changes had been made yet, but the ultimate goal was to prevent crashes and save lives, and also keep up with overseas trends, he told Radio New Zealand.

Lincoln University professor Chris Kissling said drivers should not be praised for obeying the law.

"Is this so you can store up points so you can then have a binge and get off doing something stupid?," he asked.

NZTA spokesman Andrew Knackstedt said the organisation was looking at ways to improve the demerit point system, and this may or may not include using merit points.

"The main thing to understand here is that all we are doing right now is calling for proposals to carry out research into the effectiveness of demerit points, and the idea of the use of 'merit points' would be one - relatively small - part of that research," he said.

"We are not yet even close to the stage of having a firm plan or policy."