A former Minister for Transport Safety has backed a call to limit police chases to extreme emergencies.
Harry Duynhoven, who was Minister for Transport Safety under the Helen Clark government and is now mayor of New Plymouth, says:
“A simple change of legislation would strongly discourage many dangerous high speed chases.”
Duynhoven believes that the police should have the power to permanently seize any privately owned vehicle used to flee from the police, provided that it isn’t stolen.
A leading road safety campaigner has called for a ban on police car chases, except in ‘extreme emergencies’.
Clive Matthew-Wilson, editor of the car review website dogandlemon.com, was commenting after a police chase in South Auckland, in which the fleeing car collided with an innocent motorist. The motorist’s car was written off and the driver injured.
Changes to the vehicle WOF system will result in more road deaths, says the car review website dogandlemon.com.
All new cars should be required to have reversing cameras and parking sensors, says the car review website dogandlemon.com.
Editor Clive Matthew-Wilson, who is an active road safety campaigner, was commenting after the latest driveway death, in which a family vehicle hit and killed a two-year-old boy.
Motorists who approve or disapprove of the proposed changes to the Warrant of Fitness system need to comment by the end of today.
Clive Matthew-Wilson, editor of the car review website dogandlemon.com – which is strongly opposed to the changes – says the government’s WOF changes have been very deceptively packaged.
“The government has done a brilliant job of presenting the changes to the vehicle licensing system as a measure to save ordinary motorists time and money. Actually, the average motorist will save very little and may lose a lot.”
Massive trucks may soon be cruising the country’s roads without having had an independent safety inspection, says the car review website dogandlemon.com.
Dogandlemon.com editor Clive Matthew-Wilson says the government’s WOF changes are part of a larger plan to let commercial vehicle fleet operators issue their own in-house safety certificates.
Proposed changes to the Warrant of Fitness system could result in over 80 preventable road deaths per year, said a panel of experts at a press conference in Auckland today. The expert panel – led by veteran road safety campaigner Clive Matthew-Wilson – says officials have deliberately underestimated the number of probable deaths and injuries that could result from the changes.
NZ Driver Licensing (1998) Ltd - the sole company contracted to conduct driving tests – should lose its contract with the government, says the car review website dogandlemon.com.
Dogandlemon.com editor Clive Matthew-Wilson says:
“There is clear evidence that NZ Driver Licensing is deliberately failing a high percentage of learner drivers, regardless of their ability. This is totally unacceptable.”
The proposed changes to the WOF regulations will not help the average motorist, says the car review website dogandlemon.com Editor Clive Matthew-Wilson says:
Many poor people who struggle to pass the tougher licence test will end up driving illegally, says the car review website dogandlemon.com.
Editor Clive Matthew-Wilson says:
“Passing a driving test is now a huge challenge, even for well educated, middle-class teenagers who’ve had many hours of paid instruction. What chance do poor people have?”