New car sellers want Government to clear the air

By ALASTAIR SLOANE

The new-car industry wants the Government to treat exhaust-pollution measures with the same urgency it is driving through anti-smoking legislation.

Motor Industry Association chief Perry Kerr says there is evidence that air pollution caused by vehicles is killing more than 500 New Zealanders a year.

"Yet in direct contrast to the Government's haste in imposing smoking bans in public places, there has been absolutely no action to implement the kind of exhaust emissions legislation that has been standardised in every other developed country," said Kerr.

"The silence from the National Heart Foundation, Cancer Society, Asthma and Respiratory Foundation, Stroke Foundation as well as the Public Health Foundation on a problem which is at least as serious as cigarette smoke in bars and restaurants is equally deafening."

Almost all new cars sold in New Zealand complied with pollution-control legislation in Europe, Australia and Japan, said Kerr. "But there are no tests at the border to ensure that pollution-control devices on imported used cars are still operative," he said.

"Neither is there an ongoing test as part of the warrant of fitness to ensure that older cars are compliant."

According to American air quality expert Michael Walsh, pollution in Auckland exceeds international guidelines on more than 35 days a year.

But New York City, which has many times Auckland's population and vehicle fleet, has not breached the guidelines for several years. "The Government cannot continue sitting on its hands on this one," said Kerr.

"At least people have the option of whether to enter a bar filled with cigarette smoke, but in our major cities just the act of getting out of bed in the morning exposes us to dangerous air pollution from the dirtiest vehicle exhausts in the Western world."