Land Transport Act 1998, s 119
The police have the power to seize and impound your vehicle in some cases (for example, if it’s been involved in a hit-and-run offence), and in certain situations they can also go onto or into your property to get it, without a court warrant, and using force if necessary. They can do this if:
they’ve been “freshly pursuing” your vehicle, or
it’s likely that you were about to remove, hide, destroy or dispose of the vehicle, or
they have a reasonable suspicion that you were about to use the vehicle to commit an offence for which you could be sent to jail.
The police can only use this entry power if waiting to get a court warrant would have given you a chance to remove, hide, destroy or dispose of the vehicle or to use it to commit a jailable offence.
For more information, see “Losing your vehicle: Impounding and confiscation” in this chapter.