New law to crack down on fleeing drivers

Flee police, risk losing your car, warns the government.

Drivers who are convicted after fleeing police could have their car taken off them for good under new legislation introduced to Parliament.

The government introduced the Land Transport (Road Safety) Amendment Bill on Tuesday afternoon to allow police to impound a vehicle for up to six months if it failed to stop.

If the driver was later convicted, judges would have the power to order their vehicle forfeited altogether.

Repeat offenders could also have their license disqualified for up to two years, twice the current one-year limit.

Drivers who failed to provide information about a fleeing driver could also have their vehicle impounded if doing so was necessary to prevent a threat to road safety.

Justice Minister Kiri Allan said dangerous and reckless drivers needed to be held to account.

"We're ensuring there are increased and serious consequences for this behaviour. These new tools make it clear that drivers, vehicle owners or people obstructing police's work will face serious consequences."

She said when offenders were driving someone else's car, the owner would no longer be protected.

"This is really just about saying, look, if you're going to try to flee from the police in any circumstances if the car's yours, we'll take it, that'll be forfeited.

"If it's not yours and it might be mum's or dad's or anybody else's and they try to cover up or assist you there are penalties that can be put in place for them."

Police Minister Ginny Andersen Photo: RNZ / Samuel Rillstone.

She said those who could prove their car was stolen at the time it was impounded would be able to get it back.

Police Minister Ginny Andersen said it combined with police's new framework for deciding when to pursue to send a strong, clear warning to fleeing drivers.

"You are now more likely to be caught and face the consequences.

"We are giving police the resources, the legislation, and the tools to keep these dangerous drivers off our roads."

The government intends to pass the legislation in full before the election in October. It also follows separate legislation passed in March which expanded the range of offences under which police could seize vehicles.

In a nutshell, the new law will:

  • Allow Police to seize and impound a vehicle for a period of six months if it fails to stop
  • Allow Police to seize and impound a vehicle if the registered owner fails to provide information about a fleeing driver and impounding the vehicle is necessary to prevent a threat to road safety
  • Increases the period of licence disqualification from 12 months to between 12 months and 24 months after a second conviction for a failing to stop offence
  • Allow the Courts to order that a vehicle be forfeited on conviction for a failing to stop offence.

2 comments

What????

Posted on 17-05-2023 21:57 | By Drgolf

99% of fleeing drivers are in stolen cars so what happens next. If they flee police, automatic 5 years jail plus all the other charges. Send a message. NO MORE


Simple message.

Posted on 19-05-2023 15:29 | By morepork

If you see red and blues, pull over, and stop if they are intended for you. NZ police should not be frightening, even if you have committed an offense. You have rights and our Police will uphold them. They have a much bigger gang than you have and we live on an island. Long term, you WILL be caught.


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