21 December 2021
IR-01-21-34704
James Scott
[FYI request #17683 email]
Dear James
I refer to your Official Information Act 1982 (OIA) request dated 23 November 2021 for
information about enforcement of expired warrants of fitness and vehicle licences.
I have answered each part of your request below.
1. Number of infringement notices issued by Police for 'out of date' WOF/Rego
during the current exemption period. If possible, please break this down by
Auckland v Rest of New Zealand.
I have interpreted “current exemption period” to mean the temporary extension period
that saw warrants of fitness (WOF), certificates of fitness (COF), vehicle licences (regos),
vehicle certifications, driver licences, and driver endorsements which were set to expire
between 21 July and 30 November 2021 temporarily extended to 30 November 2021.
The extension was effective from 15 September 2021.
Please refer to Table One.
Table One: Number of infringement offences issued between 15 September 2021 and 30
November 2021 for expired warrants of fitness or vehicle licences.
Location
Offence Notices
Tāmaki Makaurau
2618
Rest of New Zealand
10,432
Please note that the extension was only applicable to the aforementioned documents
which would have expired between 21 July 2021 and 30 November 2021. A person who
drove a vehicle with a WOF/COF or vehicle licence that expired before 21 July was still
liable for an infringement offence notice.
The responsibility of drivers to ensure their vehicles are in a safe condition also did not
change. Driving a vehicle that was in an unsafe condition during the extension period
Police National Headquarters 180 Molesworth Street. PO Box 3017, Wellington 6140, New Zealand.
Telephone: 04 474 9499. Fax: 04 498 7400. www.police.govt.nz
may have seen the driver issued with an infringement offence notice for operating a
vehicle not up to warrant or certificate of fitness standard.
2. Number of Police checkpoint's specifically targeting 'out of date' WOF/Rego
during the current exemption period. If possible, please break this down by
Auckland v Rest of New Zealand.
I have not identified any instances of checkpoints being set up specifically for the purpose
of targeting ‘out of date’ warrants of fitness or vehicle licenses during the extension
period.
3. Since I am most perturbed by the imminent issue of an infringement notice to
someone, which would have gone ahead had they not produced the NZTA
website information above, please provide ALL communications to front line staff
about the current exemption and enforcement guidelines during this period.
I have attached the guidance from the National Road Policing Centre that was issued to
staff on 10 September 2021. This information was issued a second time on 5 November
2021. The guidance may have also been reiterated in various forms at a local level.
I trust this information is satisfactory in answering your request.
Yours sincerely
Superintendent Steve Greally
Director: National Road Policing Centre
26/11/2021
Temporary Extn of driver licences and WoF and CoF | Ten One - New Zealand Police Intranet
Temporary Extn of driver licences and WoF and
CoF
by TANIRAU, Aroha [ATJ622]
Created on behalf of GREALLY, Stephen (Steve) [SGI906]
Published on 10/09/2021 Last modified 10/09/2021 - 4:14 pm
As a result of the Delta outbreak the Ministry of Transport has advised that
driver licences, Warrants of Fitness (WoFs), Certificates of Fitness (CoFs), vehicle
licences (‘regos’) and licence endorsements that expired on or after 21 July 2021
will be valid until 30 November 2021.
Key points:
WoFs and CoFs, driver licences, vehicle certifications and endorsements for
driver licences issued under the Vehicle Standards Compliance Rule 2002
that expired on or after 21 July 2021 will be deemed valid from Wednesday
15 September, until 30 November 2021.
The requirement to display a valid vehicle licence (Rego) if the vehicle
licence expired on or after 21 July 2021 is also suspended.
If transport documents expired before 21 July 2021 and have not yet been
renewed, drivers should be encouraged to do so as soon as practicable.
More information:
Ministry of Transport media release -
https://www.beehive.govt.nz/release/govt-parks-expiry-licenses-wofs-and-
regos
Waka Kotahi (NZTA) supporting information - https://www.nzta.govt.nz/about-
us/coronavirus-disease-covid-19-services-update/documents-with-temporary-
extensions/
Category:
Operational
District:
https://tenone.police.govt.nz/bulletin-board/temporary-extn-driver-licences-and-wof-and-cof
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26/11/2021
Temporary Extn of driver licences and WoF and CoF | Ten One - New Zealand Police Intranet
National Auckland Bay of Plenty Canterbury Central Counties Manukau
Eastern Northland PNHQ/Service Centres RNZPC Southern Tasman
Waikato Waitematā Wellington
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