Transport agency review finds more evidence of serious incidents and crashes

Friday, 23 November 2018

NZTA has revealed a man died in an incorrectly warranted vehicle, but it's coy how many other cases have come to light in a review of outstanding compliance files. (File photo)

A New Zealand Transport Agency review of more than 800 enforcement files has revealed other 'serious incidents and crashes.'

The revelation came as Transport Minister Phil Twyford announced the Ministry of Transport would conduct a wide-ranging external assessment of NZTA's regulatory work.

NZTA refused to say whether the further serious incidents and crashes it had discovered resulted in deaths and injuries, or whether they related to warrants of fitness (WOF) or heavy vehicle checks.

'These matters are subject to a separate legal process which needs to run its course.'

On Wednesday NZTA chief executive Fergus Gammie apologised for a 'totally unacceptable' delay in taking enforcement action against a Dargaville garage that improperly warranted a car involved in a fatal crash.

Passenger, 65-year-old William Ball died 28 days after the January crash in which his frayed seat belt failed, despite the car passing its warrant of fitness at Dargaville Diesel Services just a month prior, and longstanding NZTA efforts to improve the garage's inspection standards dating back to 2011.

NZTA is taking a harder line over enforcement and five heavy vehicle certifiers have been suspended for poor quality work.

* Wrongly warranted car crashes causing death, NZTA shares blame

* Constant restructuring gutted NZTA of experienced staff, says Road Transport Association

* Police defend big drop in commercial vehicle inspections**

The latest admission of additional serious incidents comes as law firm Meredith Connell works its way through a backlog of open compliance files, about 150 of them classed as urgent.

The motor industry has criticised the agency's light handed 'educational' approach to enforcing safety standards and urged it to get tough with those breaching the rules.

But Stuff was unable to question Gammie about the potential consequences of the old approach because he pulled out of a scheduled interview on Friday about 15 minutes before it was due to take place.

When the Meredith Connell review was announced in mid October, the emphasis was on issues with heavy vehicles with five heavy vehicle certifiers suspended to date.

NZTA stated that while there had been two non-injury crashes associated with those issues, it was not aware at that stage of any crashes causing deaths or injuries.

A spate of three serious bus crashes earlier this year - two of them fatal - led Transport Minister Phil Twyford to ask for the crash reports to be examined to see if any lessons could be learned from them.

He also sought assurances that bus certificates of fitness were being 'rigorously applied.'

In early August NZTA and the police launched an urgent audit of Ruapehu Alpine Lifts' fleet after passengers claimed brakes had failed in a bus that crashed on Ōhakune Mountain Road killing an 11-year-old girl and injuring about 20 others.

More intensive police roadside checks of heavy vehicles fell from 21,036 three years ago, to just under 16,000 last year.

Stuff Official Information Act requests found police spot checks of commercial vehicles had dropped by more than 13,000 over the past three years.

That included 5051 fewer in-depth level 5 roadside inspections that are done by mechanically qualified inspectors and are similar to the heavy vehicle certificate of fitness checks done at testing stations.

The biggest drop in level 5 inspections was in the upper North Island, from Cape Reinga to the Bombay Hills (down 2277), followed by area 3 which covers the lower North Island, including Mt Ruapehu (down 1505).

Stuff asked if the drop in area 3 meant the bus involved in a fatal crash on Mt Ruapehu in July was not inspected.

Police said 'we are not in a position to answer this question at this point as the matter is part of an ongoing investigation.'

When asked if the rate of level 5 inspections had increased in the Ruapehu area and nationally since the fatal bus crash, police said this would have to be the subject of another separate official information request.

A written statement supplied by police commercial vehicle safety team manager Inspector Kelly Ryan said level 5 inspections were reduced last year because of eight vacancies for vehicle safety officers, but those positions had since been filled, so there were now 22 staff capable of doing the checks.

Ryan said the drop in inspections was not a breach of the police contract to provide road policing services to NZTA because there was no set target, and she said the two agencies were moving from 'an output focus to one of outcomes.'

NZTA said the total budget for road policing was $352.7million this year, with $19.6m for network management, which included crash investigations, vehicle safety and commercial vehicle compliance.