Almost a quarter of vehicles in Dunedin are without a current warrant of fitness or vehicle licence (registration). Dan Hutchinson asks how many of us are leaving it too late and what the consequences are.
People are gambling with their lives, wallets and insurance policies by driving around without a current registration or warrant of fitness.
Figures provided to The Star by the New Zealand Transport Authority show almost a quarter of vehicles registered in Dunedin did not have a Wof as of May 31.
The total number of vehicles in Dunedin City was 119,634. Of those, 12,771 were not licensed (registered), and 29,661 did not have a current Wof or certificate of fitness (large-vehicle Wof).
A spokesman for the NZTA said the figures did not include deregistered vehicles or those on an exemption but many of the unlicensed vehicles would be parked up by owners and not in use.
Dunedin Warrant of Fitness owner Tom Park said it was human nature for people to leave the renewal of their Wof to the last minute or, quite often, until after it had expired.
''It is just the way it is in that industry and it always has been.''
The Star hit the streets to check how many cars parked in the centre of town had current vehicle registrations and of the 60 vehicles checked, eight had expired registrations.
People face a $200 fine for not displaying a current registration or Wof.
AA Insurance corporate affairs manager Amelia Macandrew said there was an exemption with its policies that meant if a car did not have a Wof and would not have passed one at the time of the accident, the owner was not covered by insurance.
''Having said that, in line with the Insurance Law Reform Act, we make sure that - on the balance of probabilities - the issue that has been identified [as one that would mean a failed Wof] ... would have contributed to the accident.''
That meant, for example, if the car had no Wof and bald tyres had contributed to the accident then the car was not covered by insurance, Ms Macandrew said.
However, if the car had no Wof and was parked on the side of the road and struck by another car then it would be covered because the lack of a Wof had no bearing on the accident.
Mr Park said that many people relied on their six-monthly or annual Wof for peace of mind and often assumed their vehicle would be fine until the next one.
However, things could go wrong between checks - for example, hitting a pothole and altering the wheel alignment could result in tyres quickly wearing down and becoming dangerous.
''If you are travelling at 100k on the open road, you need everything to be in your favour to keep you safe.''
People might find it a bit easier to register their car and get a warrant of fitness from July 1 when the cost of registrations dropped by up to 40%, Mr Park said.
