The Australian Automotive Aftermarket Association (AAAA) condemns changes proposed by VicRoads to the roadworthy certificate (RWC) system. The AAAA declares the small savings made by people transferring ownership for light vehicles will come at the price of increased risk to the safety of Victorian road users.

AAAA Executive Director Stuart Charity said the VicRoads RWC Consultation Paper actually acknowledged this fact. “This proposal is astonishing,” said Stuart Charity. “VicRoads admits that all three options proposed are expected to ‘result in a marginal increase in road safety risk’ and that “with less testing, or less areas of the vehicle tested, there is a greater chance that defective vehicles will remain on the road’.

“While this risk may be considered marginal to VicRoads, it is not acceptable to the community as a whole. Figures in the VicRoads document purport to quantify RWC costs, but there is no mention of community cost due to fatalities, injuries, loss of income, grief and pain caused by the expected increase in road trauma.

“It is hypocritical for VicRoads to propose measures that increase road safety risk given their mission to ‘implement road safety strategies’. VicRoads claims ‘the evidence shows there is no demonstrated link between roadworthiness schemes and a reduction in road trauma associated with vehicle defects’.

“This is because there is no national protocol for capturing roadworthiness information from crashed vehicles. Police and emergency service personnel attending accidents do not closely examine crashed vehicles for roadworthiness, so only obvious faults are reported,” said Stuart Charity.

Loose financial and statistical claims

The VicRoads proposal states that the current cost of the RWC scheme is $196 million and that the evidence of safety benefits does not justify the current cost of the Victorian Roadworthy system. However, there is no option in the paper that would save $196 million.

Vehicles under 3 years old (excluding taxis, buses and hire vehicles) represent a small proportion of the number of vehicles transferred.  The largest transfer of ownership group is vehicles that are four and five years old.  Actual savings for option one – no RWC for vehicles less than three years old - is $23 million.  

“We note there is no mention in the proposal of the costs of VicRoads’ own red tape – every RWC issued includes $30 in VicRoads compliance costs. Why not just remove the VicRoads fee to save consumers $21.9 million?” said Stuart Charity.

“It is important to point out that the RWC cost is borne by the person selling a car – it is not a cost imposed on all Victorians. If you want to sell a car, you need to assure the purchaser that it will be safe on the road.

“This consumer protection mechanism should not fall within the Victorian Government's definition of unnecessary red tape. It is a reasonable fee paid in return for a valuable safety service.

“The VicRoads paper said: ‘There is nothing to prevent any buyer from using an independent pre-sale mechanical inspection through the RACV’. The AAAA sees no reason to move the onus of roadworthiness from the seller to the buyer. We support current practice to protect consumers, particularly young or inexperienced buyers.

“In addition to the loose financial figures, VicRoads made assertions and assumptions that are not accurate. Independent research has been selectively quoted to support its proposals, including one reference that was actually part of a discussion about introducing annual RWC tests.

“VicRoads cannot assume vehicles less than three years old are regularly serviced under warranty and are less likely to have defects. This assumption is not proven, is not quantified and yet is used as the key reason for the proposed changes,” he said.

Why reduce safety?

Stuart Charity said AAAA members were shocked that the proposed reforms did not take into account the distance that vehicles travel. “The proposals do not apply to taxis, hire cars and busses because VicRoads recognises that these vehicles travel lots of kilometres. But in the case of individuals’ vehicles, VicRoads ignores the number of kilometres travelled,” he said.

“Our members’ experience is that many young vehicles are not serviced ‘by the book’ even while under warranty. They also tell us that many vehicles accumulate very high annual kilometres when driven by people who work ‘on the road’, those having long commutes to work, and those living in regional areas.

“While the average car may do 15,000 kilometres a year, some vehicles reach 50,000 plus kilometres a year. After three years, a vehicle with 45,000 kilometres on the clock is a very different proposition to one having done 150,000 kilometres.

“In addition to the obvious items, such as tyres, steering, suspension, brakes and seat belts, there are hundreds of electronic and computerised components in modern vehicles that must be maintained to manufacturers’ standards to ensure it is mechanically sound and safe on the road.

“These include critical items such as electronic stability control, ABS brakes, air bags and other modern devices that help prevent accidents and minimise damage and trauma in an accident.

“VicRoads claims its reform will be ‘more aligned with the road safety risks’ and be ‘better balanced between safety outcomes and the costs to owners and businesses’. But this reform will not reduce the number of defective vehicles on the road.

“Remembering that RWC costs are paid by dealers and individuals when they sell cars, and not all Victorians, the AAAA concludes that this initiative is driven solely by the Victorian Government’s wish to be seen to be doing something,” said Stuart Charity.