Identifying the driver of a vehicle law in NZ
Discussion
A few years back, our business cctv identified the car involved in an offence.
The police followed up the information and visited the registered keeper.
The registered keeper said it wasn’t him, he had lent the car to someone else.
The police were unable to proceed their enquiries further - case closed.
The police followed up the information and visited the registered keeper.
The registered keeper said it wasn’t him, he had lent the car to someone else.
The police were unable to proceed their enquiries further - case closed.
Tread carefully here - Section 118 requires the Registered Owner to provide details - and in section 52 you have this.
(6)A person commits an offence if the person fails or refuses to provide information or provides false information with respect to any request for information made by an enforcement officer under section 118.
(7)The maximum penalty on conviction for an offence against subsection (6) is a fine not exceeding $20,000.
(6)A person commits an offence if the person fails or refuses to provide information or provides false information with respect to any request for information made by an enforcement officer under section 118.
(7)The maximum penalty on conviction for an offence against subsection (6) is a fine not exceeding $20,000.
This is going back a long while but I have a related tale.
Back in 2006 I took my first trip to NZ from the UK, on the last day I was heading back to the airport on SH1, I was probably about 30kms from the Airport, this chap comes flying up behind me and rear ends my rental car, I was probably doing about 90kph at the time and he probably hit me at about 130kph ish.
Anyway, steam now pouring from his engine bay he doesn't stop and just carries on up the road. I pull over, call the police, give them the details including his registration and description of the vehicle, direction of travel etc. I then call the rental company. My car was driveable and I had a plane to catch so I headed back to the airport, getting back to the rental company, because I hadn't taken the full insurance I was liable for $3000NZD (about £1000GBP at the time) I paid it, thinking I'll be able to get it back once the guy is traced and his insurance pays up.
Getting back to the UK after a few days I start making calls and emails, essentially I was told that even though the Police knew exactly who it was and had taken action against him, they wouldn't pass the details to the insurance company citing data protection law, now I had no idea if this was true or not but basically it was very clear that the insurance company weren't going to spend any effort pursuing it (why would they, they were not out of pocket), they would only do so if I could tell them who the other party was. The Police wouldn't tell me who it was so I was in a Catch-22.
In the end I just chalked it up to experience and my lesson was that I always now take the full insurance. The result is that I likely pay over the odds every time I get a rental car but I'm always very clear that I want to be able to bring the car back a smoking wreck and not pay anymore money, that gives me peace of mind. The other consolation was that his crapbox car was clearly totaled and he probably was inconvenienced more than me.
Back in 2006 I took my first trip to NZ from the UK, on the last day I was heading back to the airport on SH1, I was probably about 30kms from the Airport, this chap comes flying up behind me and rear ends my rental car, I was probably doing about 90kph at the time and he probably hit me at about 130kph ish.
Anyway, steam now pouring from his engine bay he doesn't stop and just carries on up the road. I pull over, call the police, give them the details including his registration and description of the vehicle, direction of travel etc. I then call the rental company. My car was driveable and I had a plane to catch so I headed back to the airport, getting back to the rental company, because I hadn't taken the full insurance I was liable for $3000NZD (about £1000GBP at the time) I paid it, thinking I'll be able to get it back once the guy is traced and his insurance pays up.
Getting back to the UK after a few days I start making calls and emails, essentially I was told that even though the Police knew exactly who it was and had taken action against him, they wouldn't pass the details to the insurance company citing data protection law, now I had no idea if this was true or not but basically it was very clear that the insurance company weren't going to spend any effort pursuing it (why would they, they were not out of pocket), they would only do so if I could tell them who the other party was. The Police wouldn't tell me who it was so I was in a Catch-22.
In the end I just chalked it up to experience and my lesson was that I always now take the full insurance. The result is that I likely pay over the odds every time I get a rental car but I'm always very clear that I want to be able to bring the car back a smoking wreck and not pay anymore money, that gives me peace of mind. The other consolation was that his crapbox car was clearly totaled and he probably was inconvenienced more than me.
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