LTNZ considers pool of interpreters

Land Transport New Zealand is looking at setting up a pool of approved interpreters for driver licence testing.

The move comes in the wake of reports that driver licence fraud is rife, particularly in Auckland, where immigrant would-be drivers are cheating in driving tests by using earpieces, dodgy interpreters, stand-in drivers and bribery.

LTNZ spokesman Andy Knackstedt said today the plan for a pool of interpreters was not in response to the fraud allegations in the Herald on Sunday.

He said LTNZ had been aware for some time that use of interpreters was an area open to abuse.

" We're looking at moving to a system where we have approved interpreters rather than allowing people to nominate their own interpreter," Mr Knackstedt said.

"That's the one area where the current system is a little bit open to abuse in that people can bring along their cousin or brother or friend or whatever."

He said that in many cases the testing officer could work out when people were doing more than just interpreting, but having a Land Transport-approved pool of interpreters would make the system easier to administer.

Meanwhile, Associate Transport Minister Harry Duynhoven intends talking to Police Minister Annette King about tightening up the driver licensing sytem.

"I don't think our system is any better or worse, I think people still tried to cheat when police ran it too, but it is an issue that I think it's time we discussed once again," Mr Duynhoven said on National Radio today.

Yesterday the Herald on Sunday reported various scams had been used by people to try to obtain licences.

They included one woman using an earpiece to get instructions from her husband driving behind the test car, and other people offering bribes.

Others tried using stand-in drivers, or having interpreters who offered advice along with the tester's directions.

Mr Duynhoven said LTNZ was aware of the issues and was working with testing agencies to ensure that any new forms of cheating were picked up.

National road policing manager Superintendent Dave Cliff said that Auckland was probably home to the biggest number of cheats because Auckland was the migrant capital.

"My understanding from the anecdotes we've heard is that quite a high proportion of the people who have been identified cheating are also those who are non-English speaking."

In April last year, National MP Pansy Wong said that driving licence scams were being advertised in ethnic newspapers.

Speaking in Parliament, Ms Wong said even after widespread publicity about one scam and the police launching an investigation, adverts promising drivers licences and visas were still being published and ignored by authorities.

Among the adverts published in the Mandarin pages were promises to "guarantee permanent residence", "any licence, guarantee to pass theory tests and for practical test choose your preferred testing officer", and "pass on first go".

- NZPA