Driving testers under attack

According to the Transport Agency, testing officers made 28 complaints last year of being physically or verbally abused. Photo / Ross Setford

Staff facing more violence and abuse with tougher testing regime resulting in more failures.

Threats to burn down a driving tester's home and to call down divine retribution on another's children are among a growing number of abuse cases faced by licensing staff.

The female tester said the would-be arsonist told her after she failed him in Christchurch in October that he would "get me" and "burn down my house with me in it".

When she walked away, the man followed her and continued his abuse in front of other licensing staff. Police were called after he returned to the testing centre to make more threats.

An Auckland testing officer complained that a supporter of a licence applicant, who had arrived late for a test on the North Shore, vowed that "God would hurt my children".

"So I asked her to leave and get out of my face," the officer said in a report lodged with testing organisation New Zealand Driver Licensing.

According to the Transport Agency, to which NZDL is contracted until the end of this month, testing officers made 28 complaints last year of being physically or verbally abused. That was almost twice the 15 complaints received in 2013.

Agency spokesman Andy Knackstedt said yesterday the trend was "a concern". But he added that the numbers had to be considered against more than 8000 driving tests around the country each month.

Four of last year's complaints followed alleged physical attacks on testing staff, including on a 70-year-old officer who reported being punched three times with both fists by a man in his 20s in Dunedin in November.

The officer said he failed the man for not knowing when he had to give way to other traffic.

One licence applicant is alleged to have walked into an Automobile Association office in Auckland with his wife and child, and thrown two punches at a testing officer's face, injuring that person's jaw, mouth and tongue.

In another incident in Auckland, recorded on video, a failed licence applicant is alleged to have told his testing officer: "I will break your glasses, you Indian - how long you in New Zealand, how long you driving?"

Other cases included applicants ordering officers out of their cars, including one man who drove off by himself on a learner's licence with no L-plates, and another whose mother joined in the abuse.

Fathers of disappointed applicants were among the worst offenders. One had threatened to kick an officer's head in after his son had admitted he hadn't been ready for his test but was under parental pressure.

NZDL general manager Gerard Clark said driving tests could be emotionally-charged experiences for applicants. He said a strengthening of driving tests in 2012 resulted in a higher failure rate but any abuse against testing officers was "totally unacceptable".