Page Content

​Monday 19 June, 2017

Ashburton District Council is changing the way infringements for expired vehicle Warrant of Fitness’ (WOF’s) and expired licences (commonly known as rego’s) are handled, making the process clearer and more accommodating for drivers to renew their documents.

Under the changes to come into effect on Monday 26 June, drivers observed parking in the Ashburton CBD with an expired rego of less than 28 days will be issued a warning, while expired rego’s of more than 28 days will be issued an infringement notice, which carries a Government-set fine of $200.

An expired rego will also trigger a check of the WOF details, and if this is within the calendar month of the expiry date, a warning will be issued, and those outside the calendar month will be issued an infringement notice - the fine for which is also set at $200.

Council Environmental Monitoring Manager Rick Catchpowle says the changes provide drivers with a courtesy warning about their vehicle documents, and also allows an increase of 19 days grace for expired rego’s to be renewed if they are less than 28 days expired.

“These changes reflect a move to standardise the infringement procedure and bring them into line with many other territorial authorities’ approach in keeping unsafe vehicles off the road.

“A review of our health and safety procedures for parking officers helped prompt this move, which will allow officers to inspect vehicle WOF’s. This duty was previously revoked, as it was unsafe for officers to step onto the road and into oncoming traffic to check WOF’s, but now they will simply stand in front of the vehicle and inspect the WOF from there.”

Currently, there is no warning procedure for drivers whose rego is expired, and WOF’s are not inspected. The new warning system will involve a special ticket being placed under a vehicles windshield wipers, similar to how infringement notices are applied and will potentially help motorists avoid a possible total of $400.00 in fines.

According to the Land Transport Act 1998 section 6, it is illegal to operate a vehicle without a valid WOF unless driving straight to a place where repairs will be conducted and/or the WOF renewed. Rego’s and WOF’s must also be visible at all times. Like police, Council has authority to check and issue infringements for invalid rego’s and WOF’s.

For more information on parking in Ashburton District, visit the Council website.