Calls for incentives to scrap older vehicles are misguided, says the car review website dogandlemon.com.
Dogandlemon.com editor Clive Matthew-Wilson says:
“People are driving old bombs because they can’t afford to upgrade. It’s that simple. There’s no affordable incentive that can make a newer car cheaper than an older car.
“The blame for our ageing vehicle fleet lies squarely with the government. When the government introduced tougher emissions regulations on imported second-hand cars, they foolishly assumed that older second-hand cars in New Zealand would be replaced by newer and better second-hand cars from Japan. This hasn’t really happened. Not only is there a shortage of suitable second-hand cars from Japan, but also the old rubbish is staying on the road in New Zealand, due to a shortage of affordable replacements.
“Before these emissions regulations were bought in, the steady flow of affordable second-hand imports from Japan meant that older cars in New Zealand were quickly abandoned because it was cheaper to buy a more recent model than to fix an old one. Now that the flow of affordable cars from Japan has been reduced, older cars are staying on the road for far longer than they should. These older cars are putting out far more pollution than newer models and they’re far less safe.”
Japan’s 2011 tsunami, which cut vehicle production in Japan by 50% and forced the replacement of thousands of vehicles within Japan, has also contributed shortage of second-hand vehicles suitable for export to New Zealand, says Matthew-Wilson.
Matthew-Wilson adds:
“The government also assumed that tighter Warrant of Fitness regulations would ensure that old cars were put off the road. Again, this hasn’t happened. The tougher WOF regulations have simply meant that more vehicles are being driven illegally. A vehicle can’t be registered unless it has a WOF, so the end result of tougher WOF regulations is tens of thousands of vehicles that have neither WOF nor registration.”
A recent survey by the Motor Trade Association showed that 9% of all the vehicles surveyed had neither a current warrant of fitness (WOF) nor were currently licensed.
Matthew-Wilson adds:
“It’s easy to blame the drivers of these cars, but the government must share equal blame. The entire New Zealand transport system is based around cars and trucks, with very few alternatives.
“Most New Zealanders live in a different suburb than the one they work in. New Zealand’s public transport is abysmal by international standards. In rural areas there’s often no public transport at all. So, people either travel by car or they can’t travel at all.
“If the government is going to base the transport system around cars, it needs to ensure that safe and affordable cars are available for the people who need them. Clearly, this is not the case. Equally clearly, the government needs to loosen its restrictions on second-hand Japanese cars. Otherwise, the New Zealand fleet will continue to grow older, dirtier and less safe.”
