Today the Associate Minister of Transport, Simon Bridges, announced changes to the Warrant of Fitness laws. These changes will happen next year.
At the moment, all cars which are less than 6 years old need a WoF (Warrant of Fitness) every 12 months. Older cars need a WoF every 6 months.
This will change. New cars will not need a WoF for the first 3 years. Cars which are between 4 and 12 years old will only need a WoF every 12 months. Older cars will need a WoF every 6 months.
A WoF is a safety check. It costs about $50. These things are checked: wipers, tyres, lights, door locks, seat belts, brakes, horn, steering, exhaust (to check it’s not too noisy), spare wheel and suspension. If you don’t have a WoF sticker on your car, you will get a $200 fine.
New Zealand has many older cars. This is the reason for frequent WoF checks.
Vocabulary
• announced – told the media e.g. radio, TV, newspapers
• wipers – used when it’s raining to clean the windscreen
• horn – makes a noise
• steering – makes the car go in the direction you want it to go
• exhaust – at the back of the car, burnt gas comes out the exhaust pipe
• suspension – springs which help to make your car go smoothly
• frequent (adj) – often (adv)
Wish it were like in Canada, a safety check done only when you trade a car. I wonder if anything planned to do emission checks for cars as well. Some engines in NZ are real smokers.