Safer Vehicles sentencing

The following article was supplied to Radiator by Waka Kotahi after the sentencing of a non-MTA member for dishonestly accessing the Motor Vehicle Register. All views expressed are Waka Kotahi’s, and do not necessarily reflect those of MTA.

Nicole Botherway, Senior Manager Safer Vehicles, Waka Kotahi NZ Transport Agency,

talks about the sentencing.

Nicole, recently the first sentencing took place in court stemming from a Safer Vehicles investigation. Was the result what you hoped for?

Yes, I was pleased when the defendant pleaded guilty in March and it’s a fair sentencing. The defendant received eight months home detention plus payment of various costs.

When deciding the appropriate sentence, the Judge started from a point of two and a half years imprisonment but reduced the sentence due to mitigating circumstances

The sentence was for dishonestly accessing the Motor Vehicle Register. Is this a common occurrence in the industry?

Good inspecting organisations far outweigh the dishonest ones and we have confidence that the good ones do the right thing. We’re continuously reviewing and refreshing our approach to regulation, including the technology available to us, and we have a new and effective way of detecting dishonest behaviour. Unfortunately, over recent months we’ve found several instances where unlawful access or dishonestly accessing documents may have occurred. We’re currently investigating some of these to assess whether further action will be taken.

It’s incredibly disappointing when we find this behaviour. When people conduct vehicle inspections without the proper authority, it means vehicle safety systems may not be properly checked and it places vehicle owners and other road users at risk.

What role does safety play in vehicle inspections?

It’s the key reason we require WoF and CoF inspections to take place. For example, if you’re not checking brakes properly, what’s going to happen if that vehicle is in a crash? It may not perform as it’s supposed to – why would anyone take that risk?

This is why we conduct our compliance reviews. We aim to engage and educate with industry when we find noncompliance that can be improved on, but we’ll apply enforcement where possible fraudulent or other unlawful behaviour is uncovered.

What impact does this behaviour have on the industry as a whole?

Unlawful behaviour undermines the industry so one of the reasons we take enforcement action is to protect those who are compliant, which is the majority of the industry. You deserve to be trusted to do your job – vehicle owners should feel comfortable taking their vehicle to any WoF or CoF inspecting organisation.

Are there behaviours you’ve seen recently that are concerning?

Overall, we’re really pleased with how the industry is performing and everyone should keep up the great work.

However, we’ve found several instances where vehicle inspectors have been conducting WoFs very quickly. Too quickly to be properly conducting the inspection. Unfortunately, IOs doing this become known for ‘easy WoFs’ as vehicles that need repair get passed. Again, it’s safety being compromised and we’re cracking down on it

Any final words for MTA members?

Waka Kotahi has a lot of trust and confidence in the inspection industry. Your role is so important to many families and the safety of the New Zealand vehicle fleet. However, there are a very small minority who undermine the good work you do. My team and I are determined to hold them accountable on your behalf.

If you know of anyone compromising the safety of unsuspecting vehicle owners, please get in contact with us. It’s completely confidential and supports the reputation of the industry as a whole.