Auckland Green MP Keith Locke said today the Government should have takena more scientific approach to vehicle emissions than the “ten-second smoke rule” which will target vehicles belching long bursts of smoke.
“While I’m happy that the Government has recognised that smoky vehicles are a problem for both the environment and human health and is prepared to do something about it, this is a pretty crude approach to the problem.
“It’s good to know that the big belchers may get randomly caught and fined, but the net is designed to catch only the worst offenders – all the others will slip through.”
Mr Locke said introducing vehicle emission standards into warrant of fitness requirements would have been a systematic approach which would have had a serious impact on emissions and air pollution.
“People are concerned that older cars may not meet vehicle emission standards, but they are designed to take into account the age and make of the vehicle.”
The Greens would also like to see creative measures introduced to cut vehicle emissions such as giving incentives for low and zero emission buses (such as electric buses), and incentives for motorists to convert to CNG and LPG.