Joyce Steven: Land Transport (Enforcement Powers) Amendment Bill — First Reading 
Joyce Steven: Land Transport (Enforcement Powers) Amendment Bill — First Reading 
[Volume:654;Page:4086] 
Hon STEVEN JOYCE (Minister of Transport) 
: 
 I move  
That the Land Transport (Enforcement Powers) Amendment Bill be now read a first time. 
 It is my intention to move at the appropriate time that the Land Transport (Enforcement Powers) Amendment Bill be referred to the Transport and Industrial Relations Committee for consideration that the committee present its final report on or before Thursday 10 September 2009 and that the committee have the authority to meet on the Land Transport (Enforcement Powers) Amendment Bill at any time while the House is sitting except during oral questions during any evening on a day on which there has been a sitting of the House on a Friday on a week in which there has been a sitting of the House and outside the Wellington area during a sitting of the House despite Standing Orders 187 189(a) and 190(1)(b) and (c). 
For far too long the residents of our cities and towns have been subject to excessive noise danger and in some cases intimidation from people using vehicles in an antisocial manner. The extent to which this problem has got out of control was seen in February this year when a lone police officer was attacked when he approached approximately 300 illegal street racers and their supporters in Christchurch. In a similar incident last week a lone female aviation security service officer was attacked by a mob of around 100 illegal street racers as she carried out a routine task at Christchurch International Airport. She was surrounded by those people and the windows of her vehicle were smashed. She must have feared for her life. 
Although the activities that I have described are clearly already illegal this legislation is about putting a stop to the antisocial behaviour that can sometimes lead to that kind of pack mentality and thuggish behaviour. Currently apprehending a driver caught in the act of illegal street racing is difficult. Although existing legislation allows vehicle confiscation the actual rate of confiscation is very low—less than 2 percent. This bill will enhance the powers of police and road-controlling authorities to tackle illegal street racing and the antisocial behaviour that comes with it. It will also adjust penalties so that they are appropriate to the level of offending and they discourage repeat offending. This bill takes a comprehensive approach to the problem with 16 changes to existing provisions. In developing this bill the Ministry of Transport has worked closely with the New Zealand Police as well as the Ministry of Justice and the courts. 
Of course this bill alone will not completely solve the problem. These issues go wider than the transport sector. But together with the Vehicle Confiscation and Seizure Bill introduced by the Minister of Police the provisions in this bill will send a clear message that illegal street racing and irresponsible vehicle use is unacceptable and cannot be tolerated. This bill will allow road controlling authorities like local authorities or in the case of State highways the New Zealand Transport Agency to create by-laws that prevent vehicles cruising city streets—that is circling the same streets without good reason in a manner that draws attention to the power or sound of the engine of the vehicle being driven or creates a convoy that impedes traffic flow. I am sure members will appreciate that such an activity at a late hour with a loud exhaust can be extremely disruptive for communities and businesses. 
An example is Bealey Avenue in Christchurch where the level of disruption is so high that motel owners have lost business and a hospital was forced to move patients. To support any such by-law the bill will also empower police to attach warning notices to vehicles that are used in breach of illegal street racing by-laws. If a vehicle is used in a second or subsequent offence within 90 days it will be impounded. This bill will also require a vehicle ordered off the road for excessive exhaust noise to undergo an objective metered noise test. Currently we have requirements for exhaust noise that are enforced at warrant of fitness checks but some drivers will swap or tamper with their exhaust once they have obtained their warrant of fitness. This provision is designed to reduce and control this practice. 
This bill will rebalance the penalties for breaches of the conditions of the graduated driver licensing system so they can be more effectively enforced. These types of offences are frequently detected at police enforcement operations that target illegal street racing. Conditions of the licensing system include limitations on the hours during which a restricted licence holder can drive and restrictions around carrying passengers. These conditions are there for good reason: we know that young and inexperienced drivers are more likely to be involved in fatal crashes at night. They can be easily distracted when driving and encouraged by their peers to show off and take risks. However these licence conditions are often ignored. What is more the $400 infringement fee for those breaches is also often ignored or pooled and shared by all occupants of the car or paid by parents. In short its deterrent value is low. This bill will reduce this fee to $100 and will instead increase the demerit points for graduated driver licence system condition breaches. We know that it is demerit points that have the real deterrent value for young drivers and it is important that that message is clear. 
This increase in demerit points will not apply to those who fail to display an L-plate. Demerit points for that offence will remain at the current level. We know that on many occasions once police leave the scene after issuing a ticket for a licence breach the novice driver will drive away once again in breach of his or her licence conditions. This bill will also give police a greater range of powers to deal with drivers who breach licence conditions. They include the power to direct a vehicle to be driven to a specified place to forbid the person to drive to take possession of the vehicle keys to take other necessary steps to immobilise the vehicle or to move it to a place where it does not constitute a traffic hazard. 
Currently police with the assistance of qualified vehicle inspectors conduct operations to target illegally modified vehicles. The inspectors usually operate from a temporary site within the area of operation. However while police may direct a vehicle to the site by the roadside for inspection they do not have the power to direct a vehicle to be driven from the road site to an inspection site. It does not take very great powers of imagination to consider the outcome of a scenario where drivers of illegally modified vehicles are asked to voluntarily proceed to an inspection site. This bill will empower police to direct a vehicle suspected of not complying with vehicle standards to be inspected at a specified place of inspection nearby. This will greatly assist police in their ability to crack down on illegally modified vehicles. 
We know that people who participate in illegal street racing often make an effort to obscure vehicle registration plates or use false or stolen plates. There is an infringement fee for this offence but as I have already explained monetary penalties alone can be ineffective against people who have neither the funds nor the inclination to pay them. This bill will allow for the issuing of 25 demerit points for registration plate offences on top of the current infringement fee. 
This bill will toughen up on those who fail to stop for police. That offence can lead to high-speed pursuits where the offenders drive recklessly in their efforts to evade the police. In 2008 80 pursuits resulted in the offender crashing. The current penalty for failing to stop when directed to by police is a fine and 35 demerit points. For many drivers especially those who could face a prison sentence there is a temptation to flee and risk adding only a fine to their punishment. This bill will introduce a mandatory 3-month minimum driver licence disqualification for evading a police request to stop. It will also require failing to stop when directed to by an enforcement officer to be taken into account as an aggravating factor at sentencing for dangerous and/or reckless driving offences. In addition it will introduce a term of imprisonment of up to 3 months and a mandatory 12-month licence disqualification for a third or subsequent failure-to-stop offence. 
Under the current law police can require a vehicle owner or hirer to provide details of the driver after an offence is committed in a vehicle. A driver who does not comply is liable to a fine of up to $10000. However many drivers respond to this simply by stating that they have no knowledge of who was driving their vehicle when the incident took place. Unfortunately there is an incentive in the law for owners especially if they were the driver to refuse to give this information and thereby avoid a significant penalty. This is a particular problem when the driver already has a high level of demerit points and the alleged driving offence is punishable by demerit points. The current maximum fine of $10000 does not have deterrent value for offenders who have committed serious driving offences. Courts rarely award anywhere near this maximum amount and most fines range from $200 to $300. The bill will increase the maximum fine to $20000 to highlight the need for more substantial fines. This will increase owner responsibility and help to improve road safety. 
Furthermore this bill will make mandatory the impoundment of vehicles involved in illegal street racing or sustained loss of traction like burnouts. Currently this is at the discretion of the enforcement officer. Making impoundment mandatory makes it consistent with other impoundment provisions and more accurately reflects the fact that these activities are extremely dangerous not only for the drivers but also for other road users and bystanders.