Vehicles need to tidy up their act

By ALASTAIR SLOANE

Four out of every 10 buses in New Zealand last year broke the "10-second rule", the Ministry of Transport's benchmark for exhaust emissions.

So did almost one in five vans. One in roughly eight trucks had excessively smoky exhausts, along with one in 10 utility vehicles. Car exhausts were the cleanest, one smoky culprit in 20. So were motorcycles - one in about 16.

Overall, almost 10 in every 100 vehicles on the road last year were judged to be too smoky.

The police study observed 2998 vehicles - 1607 cars, 717 vans, 300 utilities, 263 trucks, 63 buses and 48 motorcycles. It concluded that 284, or 9.4 per cent, spewed out too much exhaust smoke.

It followed similar research in 2000 of 1309 vehicles. Buses were the biggest culprits then, too - nearly one in three was deemed excessively smoky. Overall in 2000, just over 14 of every 100 vehicles monitored broke the anti-pollution guideline.

The study says that the proportion of smoky vehicles on the road last year was more than 4 per cent down on the 2000 result.

The ministry introduced the "10-second rule" in March last year, whereby vehicles were not permitted to emit a continuous stream of visible smoke for 10 seconds or more.

It was the start of six months' grace, where motorists caught driving smoky vehicles were warned by police and given educational pamphlets.

From September, police cracked down and began issuing fines of up to $150. That month, 19 drivers were fined. In October it was 25, November 24, December 33 and January 44. Police say they have yet to do February, March and April figures.

A ministry report says the impact of vehicle emissions on the nation's health is greater than previously realised.

It estimates that 399 people aged 30 and over die prematurely each year from exposure to microscopic particles from vehicle emissions. Last year, 454 people died from road accidents, of which 243 were 30 years and over.

"This report ... demonstrates that we have an invisible road toll as well as a visible one, and highlights the need to continue working to reduce the amount of emissions created by motor vehicles, "said Transport Minister Mark Gosche. "Clearly people are getting the message that excessively smoky vehicles are unacceptable."

The Government is looking at lowering the sulphur content (a pollutant and natural ingredient of crude oil) of petrol and diesel over the next few years.

The vehicles with the worst infringement record in the two-year police study were diesel-powered buses. They could run cleaner - the new-technology engines are available, but they won't work properly on our diesel.

New Zealand regulations allow 3000 parts per million of sulphur in diesel. On average it contains 2000-2400ppm. In Europe, the present limit is 350ppm, falling by law to 50ppm by 2005. America wants a maximum sulphur content of 15ppm by 2007.

In America, a federal appeals court discarded challenges by the nation's oil companies and major diesel engine maker Cummins Incorporated and upheld new laws aimed at forcing trucks and buses to clean up their emissions.

Diesel's special status, protected through relentless lobbying in the United States, moved close to extinction, said a Reuters report.

The regulations require makers of heavy trucks and buses to cut 95 per cent of the harmful pollutants from exhaust pipes of diesel vehicles by the 2007 model year. They also require a 97 per cent reduction in sulphur in diesel fuel.

Officials from America's Environmental Protection Agency said the new laws would help to prevent thousands of early deaths and hundreds of thousands of cases of chronic and acute bronchitis and asthma attacks.

The EPA estimated the rule will cut 2.6 million tonnes annually of smog-causing nitrogen oxide emissions and 11,000 tonnes of soot or particulate matter. And 8300 premature deaths a year will be prevented, the agency said.

One of the supporters of the legislation was America's car industry, which wants to sell diesel cars. But the low-sulphur fuel the cars need to meet emission standards is not widely available.

The rule requires oil companies to produce more low-sulphur fuel sooner. But they said that the industry would not be able to keep up with such quick reductions.

Cummins argued technology was not available at present to adequately strip smog-causing nitrogen oxide emissions to the levels required by the new standard, but other diesel manufacturers and the EPA disagreed.