Pursuant to section 95(1)(t) of the Land Transport Management Act 2003, and section 112 of the Crown Entities Act 2004, the Minister of Transport gives the following Direction.

Direction

1. Title

This Direction is the New Zealand Transport Agency (Administration of Funding for Six Month Impoundment of Vehicles) Direction 2023.

2. Commencement

This Direction comes into force on 8 June 2023.

3. Application

This Direction applies to the New Zealand Transport Agency (which is a Crown Entity pursuant to section 93 of the Land Transport Management Act 2003) (“Agency”).

4. Background

As part of the Government’s commitment to road safety the Land Transport (Road Safety) Bill 2023 provides a new power to seize and impound a motor vehicle for a period of six months in the case of fleeing drivers. For this to be successful it is necessary to provide financial assurance to towage and storage operators in order to ensure continuity of service.

This Direction allows the Agency to establish and operate an administrative scheme for the six-month impoundment of vehicles.

The Agency has a number of functions outlined in section 95 of the Land Transport Management Act 2003, including the function under section 95(1)(t) to carry out any other functions relating to land transport that the Minister directs in accordance with section 112 of the Crown Entities Act 2004. This Direction directs the Agency to carry out the function of establishing and operating an administrative scheme for the six-month impoundment of vehicles.

The Agency was consulted during the development of this Direction.

5. Additional Function

Pursuant to section 112 of the Crown Entities Act 2004, the Agency is directed to carry out the following additional function:

To establish and operate the administrative system in support of the impoundment of vehicles for six months.

Dated at Wellington this 17th day of June 2023.

Hon KIERAN McANULTY, Acting Minister of Transport.