Motorists' friend hangs up keys

George Fairbairn

Fuel prices may rise and the roads become ever more congested but few motorists are willing to give up the convenience and freedom of the private motor vehicle.
And for more than 40 years George Fairbairn has been in the motorists' corner, working to make driving as safe and free of hassles as possible.

Much of that effort has gone into trying to ensure fuel taxes are used fairly and to get governments to build better, safer roads.

He retires today as public affairs director of the Automobile Association having joined the then AA Wellington as a junior accounts clerk in the early 1960s.

Something he was reading recently from the 1950s showed that many of the issues confronting motorists of that time continue to do so today.

That showed the AA had to remain a "vigilant watchdog" of government to ensure motorists weren't seen as easy targets for taxes which were then not spent on improving roads.

Providing a roading network had become increasingly complex as the number of vehicles on the roads grew.

While buying a car was still a big investment, vehicles were now more affordable than in the past, making a huge difference to many people's lives.

When used imports were first brought into this country, there were reservations that we would become a dumping ground for vehicles the Japanese did not want, Mr Fairbairn said.

"Maybe in those first few years there was perhaps a trend in that way, but that's certainly improved in the past decade or more, and we're now having safer vehicles because people don't have to hold onto older vehicles."

Greater access to cars gave families mobility they might not have had in the past.

"It's probably enabling more people to get jobs because they can get a car at a reasonable price, which can get them to or from a job which is now any day in the week, any five days in seven, and any hours of the day," he said.

At times during his dealings with successive governments it had felt like "you're banging your head a bit against a brick wall".

"Then you've got to use, as I always say, the dripping tap syndrome. Just keep at it, keep at it, keep at it.

"And finally, at the end of the day, a government might realise it's got to do more, and I think finally the last Government allocated that extra money," Mr Fairbairn said.

The greater funding that had become available for roading in the past few years, and particularly the past 12 months, had followed "some very concerted pressure by a lot of people, organisations, including ourselves" for a safe and efficient network to move people and goods around the country.

"Certainly there's a huge amount for Auckland, but Auckland is a problem area because certain works were started, never completed, 30 years ago.

"They've got to get them completed, and until they're completed you're going to continue to have a bottleneck through Auckland," he said.

"And Wellington's missed out as well ... Wellington has been short-changed, as it were, the access in and out of Wellington has been poor."

Compared with other developed countries, New Zealand had not made enough progress in recognising the need to have more safety features on the roads, Mr Fairbairn said.

"On the other hand we've got a very mountainous country, we've got a small population ... we've probably got a fair system.

"We could do more but it's going to cost more, and I think that's been the dilemma all along."

The state of the network had been a surprise for some overseas visitors who had found stretches of State Highway 1 to be the equivalent of a rural road in some other countries.

"We should have had some years ago a four-lane road between Auckland and Hamilton, and a four-lane road going north of Wellington, say to at least Levin ... and we haven't got it," he said.

"I think that's hindered in some ways the growth and development of the country."

But those arguments are now for others to debate with central and local Government.

Mr Fairbairn said he had nothing on the horizon for now but that he would look at some options in 2006.

Dripping tap syndrome

AA lobbyist George Fairbairn on:
Cars "We're now having safer vehicles because people don't have to hold on to older vehicles."
Governments "You've got to use, as I always say, the dripping tap syndrome, just keep at it."
Auckland traffic "Auckland is a problem area because certain works were started, never completed, 30 years ago."

- NZPA