KEY POINTS:
A new law restricting public access to the motor vehicle register - making it harder for car owners to be traced - has been introduced to Parliament.
The Land Transport Amendment Bill will remove the obligation on the registrar of motor vehicles to give names and addresses to anyone asking for them.
Transport Minister Annette King said the storage of car details on the Motor Vehicles Register had been open to abuse.
"Angry motorists in the aftermath of road rage incidents have used the register to trace and harass the other driver," she said.
"Professional car thieves have used the register to target high-value cars. Owners of motor vehicles have also been subjected to unwanted approaches from direct marketers."
People with legitimate reasons to have the addresses of motorists - such as insurance company assessors, sales yards staff checking trade-in vehicles and manufacturers recalling vehicles - would be allowed full access to the register, Ms King said.
Other organisations, including the media, would have to apply on a case by case basis - which would then be judged by the Minister of Transport.
Requests for the information will be under the Official Information Act or through an authorised-access procedure.
The Personal Property Securities Register, which records any money owed on vehicles, will remain a public record.
The Government is also changing the law so drugged drivers will face similar tests and penalties to drunk drivers.
Police must now prove that anyone they suspect of being behind the wheel while drugged is incapable of driving. Prosecutors had found that difficult to prove, and also had problems proving drugs were the cause of poor driving.
Under the proposed new law, police will put a suspected drugged driver through a roadside test of balance, co-ordination and eye-pupil response.
A driver who fails this check will be given a blood test and a positive result will lead to a prosecution.
"We are taking this issue seriously, and this impairment test and this tougher approach to it will mean hopefully that we will be able to remove impaired drivers from the road," Ms King said.
"It is a road safety issue as far as we are concerned, in line with people who are impaired by alcohol."
Drugged drivers will face the penalties as drunk drivers:
* For a first or second offence, imprisonment for up to three months or a fine of up to $4500, plus disqualification for at least six months.
* For a third or subsequent offence, imprisonment for up to two years or a fine of up to $6000, and disqualification for more than one year.
Blood samples taken by police investigating driving offences will not be able to be used as evidence in any drugs case.
But police already have the right to search a vehicle or a person if they believe they may possess drugs.
New Zealand First wants anyone found driving under the influence of illicit substances to be prosecuted under driving and drugs laws.
Ms King said the police did not prosecute people twice for the same offence, and national road policing manager Superintendent Dave Cliff said the penalties for drugged driving would be more severe than those for possession of a Class C drug.
"We will only be charging people with this offence. It certainly carries all the penalties that are required."
Mr Cliff said he expected about 400 prosecutions a year would be made for drugged driving.
Ms King said people whose driving had been impaired by a legitimately taken prescription drug would have a defence.
"If you are impaired and they find you have a prescription from your doctor, that is a defence, so long as you have taken it properly.
"If you have taken double the dose and driven with alcohol when you were told you should not, then obviously you haven't followed what you were supposed to do."
What's On Line
* National MP Sandra Goudie found that details of up to 1000 vehicle owners could be obtained overnight from the Land Transport New Zealand website.
* Information included phone numbers, email and home addresses.
* More than 5.5 million queries were lodged with the register in the past 12 months.
* 88 per cent were from commercial customers.
