Northern Advocate
  • Northern Advocate home
  • Latest news
  • Business
  • Opinion
  • Lifestyle
  • Sport
  • Property
  • Video
  • Death notices
  • Classifieds

Subscriptions

  • Herald Premium
  • Viva Premium
  • The Listener
  • BusinessDesk

Sections

  • Latest news
  • On The Up
  • Business
  • Opinion
  • Lifestyle
  • Rural
    • All Rural
    • Dairy farming
    • Sheep & beef farming
    • Horticulture
    • Animal health
    • Rural business
    • Rural life
    • Rural technology
  • Sport
  • Property
    • All Property
    • Residential property listings

Locations

  • Far North
  • Kaitaia
  • Kaikohe
  • Bay of Islands
  • Whangārei
  • Kaipara
  • Mangawhai
  • Dargaville

Media

  • Video
  • Photo galleries
  • Today's Paper - E-Editions
  • Photo sales
  • Classifieds

Weather

  • Kaitaia
  • Whangārei
  • Dargaville

NZME Network

  • Advertise with NZME
  • OneRoof
  • Driven Car Guide
  • BusinessDesk
  • Newstalk ZB
  • Sunlive
  • ZM
  • The Hits
  • Coast
  • Radio Hauraki
  • The Alternative Commentary Collective
  • Gold
  • Flava
  • iHeart Radio
  • Hokonui
  • Radio Wanaka
  • iHeartCountry New Zealand
  • Restaurant Hub
  • NZME Events

SubscribeSign In

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Home / Northern Advocate

Warning over WoF change

By Kristin Edge
Northern Advocate·
1 Jul, 2014 08:02 PM3 mins to read

Subscribe to listen

Access to Herald Premium articles require a Premium subscription. Subscribe now to listen.
Already a subscriber?  Sign in here

Listening to articles is free for open-access content—explore other articles or learn more about text-to-speech.
‌
Save

    Share this article

Angela Peck reckons while she only has to have annual Warrant of Fitness checks done annually she will continue six-monthly checks to keep her daughter Aiyana safe. Photo/Michael Cunningham

Angela Peck reckons while she only has to have annual Warrant of Fitness checks done annually she will continue six-monthly checks to keep her daughter Aiyana safe. Photo/Michael Cunningham

Drivers with vehicles made in 2000 or later will now only have to get their warrant of fitness inspections once a year under new rules which came into force yesterday.

Whangarei mum Angela Peck reckons the change is good for the wallet but she won't compromise her 7-year-old daughter's safety by driving without the six monthly inspections by experienced mechanics.

The 25-year-old solo mum reckons she will be finding a garage to give her 2006 Holden Berlina a quick once over midway through the year.

"It's good on the wallet but for safety reasons I don't think yearly is good enough. I'm going to have checks done for the safety of my daughter ... I don't want to be driving around in a car that could be dangerous," Ms Peck said.

"Parts in cars can deteriorate extremely quickly and by having checks twice a year the issues can be dealt with before they become major."

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

She said car owners would become very reliant on thorough checks being done by those who issued warrants.

"There are a lot of dodgy guys out there who don't do good checks and now we are supposed to rely on their checks for a year."

Vehicles built before 2000 will continue to have six-monthly inspections.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

Whangarei RoadSafety campaigner Gillian Archer hoped the new regulations would not see a reduction in safety.

She said the onus would be on vehicle owners and drivers to do their own regular checks, particularly of brakes and tyres.

Ms Archer said warrants were just a snapshot in time and drivers had a continuous obligation to check their vehicle to ensure it was safe.

She said some cars closer to the cut off point of 2000 were nearly 14 years-old and in vehicle technology were fairly old.

"The key thing is to check treads on tyres. They may pass at the time of a check but six or seven months down the track they may become unsafe."

Those mechanics who passed cars later than 2000 would have to issue drivers with clear instructions and warnings to check vehicles before it was due for another warrant.

The consequences of not having a vehicle up to warrant standards can be tragic.

A number of fatal accidents nationally have involved non-warranted vehicles.

Yesterday's changes means about 1.2 million cars, made after 2000, that were once subject to six-monthly WoF inspections will now be checked annually.

Northland road policing manager Inspector Murray Hodson said the most common causes of serious crashes in the region were alcohol, speed, high risk drivers and dangerous driving.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

However, "smooth and worn tyres, cracked windscreens, rusty vehicles and other vehicle defects" were sometimes factors in vehicle crashes.

"The warrant of fitness check is a minimum safety check and shouldn't be confused with a vehicle maintenance check, Mr Hodson said.

"You don't have to wait until your warrant of fitness is due."

Save

    Share this article

Latest from Northern Advocate

Northern Advocate

Far North homes without power after severe gales

Northern Advocate

'Economic growth is key': Luxon discusses Northland's potential with iwi

Northern Advocate

Northland businesses unite for CCTV initiative to combat crime


Sponsored

Solar bat monitors uncover secrets of Auckland’s night sky

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

Latest from Northern Advocate

Far North homes without power after severe gales
Northern Advocate

Far North homes without power after severe gales

More than 170 customers south of Cape Rēinga are still without power.

17 Jul 08:26 AM
'Economic growth is key': Luxon discusses Northland's potential with iwi
Northern Advocate

'Economic growth is key': Luxon discusses Northland's potential with iwi

17 Jul 06:02 AM
Northland businesses unite for CCTV initiative to combat crime
Northern Advocate

Northland businesses unite for CCTV initiative to combat crime

17 Jul 04:00 AM


Solar bat monitors uncover secrets of Auckland’s night sky
Sponsored

Solar bat monitors uncover secrets of Auckland’s night sky

06 Jul 09:47 PM
NZ Herald
  • About NZ Herald
  • Meet the journalists
  • Newsletters
  • Classifieds
  • Help & support
  • Contact us
  • House rules
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms of use
  • Competition terms & conditions
  • Our use of AI
Subscriber Services
  • The Northern Advocate e-edition
  • Manage your print subscription
  • Manage your digital subscription
  • Subscribe to Herald Premium
  • Subscribe to the Northern Advocate
  • Gift a subscription
  • Subscriber FAQs
  • Subscription terms & conditions
  • Promotions and subscriber benefits
NZME Network
  • The Northern Advocate
  • The New Zealand Herald
  • The Northland Age
  • Waikato Herald
  • Bay of Plenty Times
  • Rotorua Daily Post
  • Hawke's Bay Today
  • Whanganui Chronicle
  • Viva
  • NZ Listener
  • Newstalk ZB
  • BusinessDesk
  • OneRoof
  • Driven Car Guide
  • iHeart Radio
  • Restaurant Hub
NZME
  • About NZME
  • NZME careers
  • Advertise with NZME
  • Digital self-service advertising
  • Book your classified ad
  • Photo sales
  • © Copyright 2025 NZME Publishing Limited
TOP