Government review to overhaul outdated traffic fines and penalties – John Williamson

The Government has begun a review of traffic fines and penalties.

A recently published poll of the Government coalition partners indicated almost 90% either strongly agreed or somewhat agreed with the statement: “People who break the law should be given stronger sentences”.

The sentiment being expressed appears to be that the current criminal sentencing regime is not tough enough to be effective, either as punishment, deterrent or rehabilitation.

That poll comes at a time when the Government has begun a review of current traffic fines and penalties, with the aim of making changes this year. There will not be a public consultation process regarding the proposed changes.

This review is beyond timely. New Zealand’s traffic fines and penalties were last set in 1999 and the deterrent effect has practically evaporated. In 1999, the median weekly income was $520. This has increased 158% since then to $1343 in 2024. In 1999, the $150 for not wearing a seatbelt was a substantial portion of your pay packet. Inflation has now eroded that deterrent effect.

As well as being hopelessly out of date, our fines and penalties regime does not adequately reflect the severity of the offence. Offences such as drink or drug driving, not wearing seatbelts, speeding and cell phone use while driving are all common factors in crashes and are behaviours targeted by police in road safety. The review needs to consider whether these factors should have more than an inflationary adjustment.

For instance, the current fine for not wearing a seatbelt is $150 with no demerit points. A Government announcement last year suggested this fine could increase to $450 to reflect inflation. That’s no big deal when compared to Queensland where non-seatbelt use costs $1251 plus four demerit points. With those demerits, you could lose your licence for three months. When you consider that 40% of Northland’s road fatalities were unrestrained, it seems logical to communicate through fines and penalties the severity and seriousness of such an offence.

The review should also consider the greater use of demerit points as a further deterrent for dangerous driving behaviour and high-risk offences. For many driving offences the risk of losing your licence is of greater significance than a fine. Some high-risk offences currently have relatively light consequences, while repercussions for some lower-risk behaviours can be very tough. Driving without a registration for example, incurs demerit points, yet getting caught not using a seatbelt does not.

The context of the review should also consider how the demerit point system is administered and communicated to those who continue to collect them. Demerit point accumulators need to know when they are in danger of losing their licence.

While many members of the public believe people breaking the law should be given stiffer sentences, and there is a review of traffic fines and penalties under way, we need to be mindful the administration of this system is in the hands of the courts. This is where the rubber meets the road, with much public perception being that many penalties administered are little more than a slap on the wrist.

Judges are bound by higher court rulings and legislation in sentencing. Parliament sets the fines and penalty limits and our 160 judges then have the perpetrators in front of them for sentencing. There may be a whole range of factors taken into account at sentencing, and the system isn’t perfect to everyone’s satisfaction.

For instance, the difference and continuum of careless, to dangerous, to reckless driving and whether or not a fatality occurs, carry different sentences. Judges make decisions about these. Various judicial comments reflect the challenges of that discretion such as “error of judgment can sometimes involve an action that falls below the standard of the ordinary, reasonable and prudent person, and at other times not”, and “accidents can occur even where a driver has exercised the care to be expected of a reasonably competent and prudent driver”.

Judges make judgments about those individual circumstances, but the level of fines and penalties they can apply is determined by Parliament. That level is currently too low and way out of date.