Multi-bike registration: Submission to the government

[Swoop]

I find the current scheme quite economical!

[bsasuper]

I am considering a submission to parliament, to have government reconsider the way (rego) licencing fees to are applied to vehicles, mainly car and motorcycles.
It seems unfair to me that one can own several bikes and cars and to be able to drive them all on nz roads the need to be fully licensed.
I know that you can license vehicles for a mininum of 3 months, and put licences on hold but this does not allow to you use the vehicle whenever you want.
It is riduculous in this day and age with all the monitoring and "whatnot" available that the government can come up with a system that work on a user pays type arrangement.
I realise that the govt will not want to lessen the overall "take" in license fee incomes, for all ACC etc. That is not what I am on about.
For myself to register 4 motorcycles and 4 cars would cost around $3500 per year, all when I can only drive one at a time. Stupid!!
To set the record straight, these are not expensive vehicles, the whole lot would not add up to the price of an avreage new car.

I believe there should be a system where all cars and motorbikes are registered at a minimal fee say $30 per annum. for admin control , stats etc. On top of that there should be a system of registering the owner of these vehicles, at some $ cost, this should also include a third party insurance cost that is related to the way the owner drives, eg it will cost more if he/she has had accidents and infringement notices.
Those that have a poor driving record pay the price. .
To me this would seem alot fairer, the admin would not be anymore, its all done online, electronically these days anyway.
And would mean I could drive all my vehicles anytime. Great.
Do you think its worth a submission upstairs?

Dreaming..

[MarkH]

Not entirely true - some years ago when Nick Smith was the Minister for ACC, we had an exchange of emails on this very topic, and in his last one to me he stated that the ACC levy "must be fair to everyone".

From this, I take it that he means that no-one must pay more than their share. There are ways to make this happen.

Oh well, if a politician said they must be fair then that is the end of the story.
I guess I'll just tell them I don't want to pay a 2nd ACC levy because that wouldn't be fair.

[R650R]

The danger from having a one rego covers multiple vehicles is that a system will be needed to identify the appropriate owner or designated employee is the only person using that vehicle.
That would need some sort of electronic tagging of licence which will just encourage them to the next step of electronic licences and monitoring of driving.
There's no reason the money needed for car rego couldn't just be lumped in with normal taxes, its just another mechanism of control and tool to spot the disobedient, hence why change is unlikely.

[James Deuce]

Not entirely true - some years ago when Nick Smith was the Minister for ACC, we had an exchange of emails on this very topic, and in his last one to me he stated that the ACC levy "must be fair to everyone".

From this, I take it that he means that no-one must pay more than their share. There are ways to make this happen.

Nick is a consummate liar. What he meant is that Motorcyclists should be carrying the entire burden for motorcycle related death and injury.

[Scuba_Steve]

Only way to do multi-vehicle (or any vehicle) fairly is RUC's, pay per k

[Oakie]

The problem with OPs proposition is plain maths.

We have a set nuimber of BIKES paying rego to arrive at the figure ACC claims we cost them. Lets call it 25 million in ACC expense for argument's sake and lets call it 60,000 bikes owned by 40,000 bikers. (Figures won't be right ... they are just for illustration purposes)

Presently the 25 mill divided into the 60,000 bikes equals an average of $416 ACC levy per bike.

If you were to make it RIDER pays then we go 25 mill divided into 40,000 riders which gives an ACC levy of $625 per person.

In this case you'd be increasing 66% of all riders levies by 50%. Good luck swinging that!

My sympathies to those lucky bastards with a bike for each day of the week and I understand the argument that you can't ride them all at the same time ... but the majority of bikers would be significantly worse off under a rider pays regime. Remember the bottom line is that ACC still needs to raise X million dollars and reducing the levyable units can only increase the individual levies.

[mossy1200]

The problem with OPs proposition is plain maths.

We have a set nuimber of BIKES paying rego to arrive at the figure ACC claims we cost them. Lets call it 25 million in ACC expense for argument's sake and lets call it 60,000 bikes owned by 40,000 bikers. (Figures won't be right ... they are just for illustration purposes)

Presently the 25 mill divided into the 60,000 bikes equals an average of $416 ACC levy per bike.

If you were to make it RIDER pays then we go 25 mill divided into 40,000 riders which gives an ACC levy of $625 per person.

In this case you'd be increasing 66% of all riders levies by 50%. Good luck swinging that!

My sympathies to those lucky bastards with a bike for each day of the week and I understand the argument that you can't ride them all at the same time ... but the majority of bikers would be significantly worse off under a rider pays regime. Remember the bottom line is that ACC still needs to raise X million dollars and reducing the levyable units can only increase the individual levies.

I thought the figures were more like 300k bike licences and 80k registered bikes.

That's why I think Acc should be paid on licence type not vehicle registrations.

[Jantar]

The problem with OPs proposition is plain maths.

We have a set nuimber of BIKES paying rego to arrive at the figure ACC claims we cost them. Lets call it 25 million in ACC expense for argument's sake and lets call it 60,000 bikes owned by 40,000 bikers. (Figures won't be right ... they are just for illustration purposes)

Presently the 25 mill divided into the 60,000 bikes equals an average of $416 ACC levy per bike.

If you were to make it RIDER pays then we go 25 mill divided into 40,000 riders which gives an ACC levy of $625 per person.

In this case you'd be increasing 66% of all riders levies by 50%. Good luck swinging that!

My sympathies to those lucky bastards with a bike for each day of the week and I understand the argument that you can't ride them all at the same time ... but the majority of bikers would be significantly worse off under a rider pays regime. Remember the bottom line is that ACC still needs to raise X million dollars and reducing the levyable units can only increase the individual levies.

I recall from the ACC protest data that there are aproximately 250,000 licenced motorcylists in New Zealand and around 100,000 licenced motorcycles. I'll need to look up the exact numbers but they were in that ball park.

[Oakie]

I recall from the ACC protest data that there are aproximately 250,000 licenced motorcylists in New Zealand and around 100,000 licenced motorcycles. I'll need to look up the exact numbers but they were in that ball park.

Probably another nail in the 'per user' argument is the case of my wife's grandmother. Yes, at age 75 she had a motorcycle licence but she'd not ridden for 50 years. It may be that of that 250,000 people you quote with bike licences, perhaps only half are active riders?

[Jantar]

More like a third

[BMWST?]

More like a third

if that....

[Racing Dave]

Oh well, if a politician said they must be fair then that is the end of the story.
I guess I'll just tell them I don't want to pay a 2nd ACC levy because that wouldn't be fair.

Don't tell them, just don't pay.

[Racing Dave]

Nick is a consummate liar. What he meant is that Motorcyclists should be carrying the entire burden for motorcycle related death and injury.

I imagine his lips were moving when he dictated the reply to his minion.

I take my own meaning from his words.

[AllanB]

Maybe a user 'plate' like a car dealers plate. Licensed to the user who attaches the plate to the vehicle they are using. They could have nice day-glow yellow ones for motorcycles to make them more visible and less prone to accidents.......

How long before they ban black helmets?