Foss CraigLAND TRANSPORT AMENDMENT BILLFirst ReadingHon CRAIG FOSS (Associate Minister of Transport) on behalf of the Minister of Transport: I move That the Land Transport Amendment Bill be now read a first time. I nominate the Transport and Industrial Relations Committee to consider the bill. It gives me great pleasure to introduce the bill to this House. The bill aims to promote better regulation improve safety and promote greater economic growth and productivity. The purpose of this bill is part of the Government's ongoing efforts to create better and more effective regulation. The Land Transport Amendment Bill has six components. The bill will enable innovative small passenger services to operate and deliver benefits to consumers while managing safety risks. It will also introduce mandatory alcohol interlock sentences for repeat offenders and first-time drink-driving offenders with high alcohol levels. The bill will also create a more effective deterrent to reduce the numbers of fleeing drivers. It will also strengthen the framework for managing evasion of public transport fares. The bill will also create opportunities to increase productivity of heavy freight and passenger vehicles. Finally the bill will make a range of minor amendments to make sure that the Land Transport Act is clear and is operating as intended. Regarding small passenger services the bill together with amendments to land transport rules and regulations will overhaul small passenger services by removing outdated provisions and bringing the sector into the 21st century. That is because new technologies like smartphone apps have changed the ways that the sector can operate. Modernising our regulation will make sure it is flexible enough to accommodate new business models while managing safety risks. Ensuring an effective small passenger services sector has a range of wider benefits for the New Zealand economy including using the transport system more effectively and helping to reduce congestion. The bill will create a single simple category of small passenger service. Current rules that impose costs on operators but no longer provide any significant benefits will be removed. The New Zealand Transport Agency will consult on the new rules. The purpose of these changes is to encourage innovation and enable new kinds of services while managing safety risks to drivers and passengers. Making the regulatory environment more flexible will allow transport operators to compete on a more even footing.The second component of the bill follows on from recent changes to the Vehicle Dimensions and Mass Rule 2002 which have enabled the introduction of more productive freight and passenger service vehicles. The changes will enable more efficient enforcement of heavy vehicle weight limits make it easier to redirect vehicles for weighing increase the maximum penalty for overloading from $10000 to $15000 reduce the tolerance before offloading is required and empower the police to order trucks to be offloaded when they are overloaded by more than 10 percent or more than 2 tonnes whichever is the lesser. Further changes to the rule are currently under way and will lead to more gains in public transport road transport productivity and safety with fewer heavy vehicle trips being required on the transport system to transport the same volumes of passengers and freight.Regarding mandatory alcohol interlocks the third component of the bill relates to those alcohol interlocks. Alcohol interlocks are a very effective tool for reducing the incidence of recidivist drink-driving. An alcohol interlock device requires a driver to pass a breath test before they can start their car. This has been proven to reduce drink-driving reoffending by an average of 60 percent where the device has been fitted. The bill proposes to make alcohol interlocks mandatory for first-time high-alcohol offenders and repeat offenders. There are limited grounds for exceptions proposed.To support the new mandatory alcohol interlock sentence the Government will fund a financial assistance scheme to assist low-income offenders for whom the cost of alcohol interlocks would be—or could be—prohibitive. Greater use of alcohol interlocks by high-risk offenders will help improve road safety outcomes and supports the Government's road safety strategy.The fourth component of the bill will increase the penalties for drivers who fail to stop for police. When drivers attempt to flee police they endanger the safety of other road users and the police as well as their own safety and that of their passengers. All too frequently the actions of fleeing drivers result in crashes involving serious injury or death. Increasing the penalties for fleeing drivers will send a clear message that this behaviour is unacceptable and will not be tolerated. The disqualification penalties for failing to stop will scale up based on whether it is the driver's first second third or subsequent offence of this kind. The bill also proposes strengthening the powers of the courts to permanently confiscate vehicles involved in fleeing driver incidents. I would like to acknowledge my colleague Stuart Smith and his strong advocacy for increasing penalties for drivers who fail to stop for police.The fifth component of the bill strengthens the legislative regime for managing the evasion of public transport fares. The Government wants to prevent a culture of evasion of fares from becoming established. That is because the evasion of fares impacts on security which can reduce patronage and the efficiency of public transport services. The bill will give enforcement officers new powers to require passengers to provide evidence that they have paid a fare provide their contact their contact details where a valid ticket is not produced and/or order a passenger to disembark the public transport service. It will be an offence for a person to fail to comply with an enforcement officer's directions.Regarding miscellaneous provisions the final component of the bill makes a range of minor amendments to clarify interpretations or the intent of the legislation improve the legislation's operation remove inconsistencies and make minor technical amendments and adjustments. Although minor these changes are a sign of the Government's commitment to better regulation. In closing the changes proposed by this bill demonstrate the Government's determination to ensure the country has an effective efficient and safe land transport system. I now commend the bill to the House.