Drivers use loophole to save thousands

Dozens of Bay motorists are registering their personal vehicles as ambulances to cut thousands of dollars off their annual licensing costs.
Law enforcement officials are identifying the culprits and are about to come down hard on them with a warning they could be fined $1000.
There are 15 genuine ambulances across the Western Bay - 14 belonging to St John and one to private company Immediate Ambulance, which provides non-emergency and patient transfer services.
But statistics released to the Bay of Plenty Times show there are 88 other vehicles registered as non-commercial ambulances, and officials believe these are owned by people who have until now been exploiting a legal loophole.
New Zealand Transport Agency media manager Andy Knackstedt said over the next two weeks these vehicle owners would be sent a letter asking them to correctly register their vehicles, or face a $1000 fine.
Their licence plate numbers would also be given to police.
"(They're) ripping off everybody else who pays their ACC levies in good faith."
Mr Knackstedt said those with incorrectly registered vehicles may also find their insurance company would not cover them.
It costs nearly $60 to register a non-commercial ambulance for a year, $287 for a petrol-powered private car and $417 for a private non-petrol car.
A vehicle legitimately licensed as a non-commercial ambulance is one designed and used principally by a private organisation to carry sick or injured employees.
These vehicles also have to be made available for use by the public in emergencies such as a civil defence alert.
ACC does not charge non-commercial ambulances the levy that makes up the largest chunk of the annual vehicle licensing fee, Mr Knackstedt said.
"The onus is on every individual vehicle owner to licence his or her vehicle properly and for the correct vehicle usage, and it is an offence to knowingly licence a vehicle incorrectly."
On May 1, a new law was introduced aimed at specifically stopping motorists from registering their vehicles incorrectly to cut licensing costs.
The Transport Agency also now has the power to cancel the registration of a vehicle if they believe it is not registered correctly.
The problem is particularly bad in Otago, where 230 ambulances are registered, nearly as many as in Auckland, where there are 10 times as many people.
A St John Ambulance spokesperson said the organisation's operations were not affected by others choosing to register their vehicles as ambulances "however it is bit disappointing".
AA general manager motoring affairs Mike Noon said motorists paid the ACC levy because it was needed to make the system work.
"Anybody that's working the system is basically cheating. We don't think it's on that people are trying to rort the system."
Mr Noon said he hoped the new legislation would "bring people into line".
"I don't think the public has much sympathy for this and from the AA's point of view we don't think it's particularly clever of people either."