Car industry calls for annual roadworthy checks on old vehicles in all states

Car industry bodies say there’s a growing problem on our roads leading to more accidents. But no-one is willing to do something about it.

Young lives are being lost on Australian roads because state governments have refused to introduce mandatory annual roadworthiness checks for older vehicles, according to car industry bodies.

Victoria, South Australia, Queensland and Tasmania don’t require cars to pass roadworthiness checks to have their registration renewed, while New South Wales does.

Victorian Automotive Chamber of Commerce chief executive Geoff­ Gwilym said poorly maintained older vehicles were contributing to the road toll.

“Research conducted by the Monash University Accident Research Centre shows vehicle defects are a contributing factor in more than six per cent of crashes and periodic roadworthiness tests could reduce the number of crashes caused by vehicle defects by about 50 per cent,” he said.

VACC chief executive Geoff­ Gwilym believes annual roadworthiness tests should be compulsory. Picture: Supplied

He said research indicated that roughly two-thirds of drivers and passengers killed on Australian roads were in vehicles more than 10 years old.

“It’s likely that up to 10 per cent of the cars on our roads are unroadworthy,” he said. Australia’s carpark is estimated to be 20 million vehicles.

In NSW, vehicles older than five years must past a roadworthiness test by a licensed mechanic before they can be re-registered.

The national road toll in the first nine months of the year is up by almost 10 per cent over the same period last year.

Mr Gwilym said there was no doubt poorly maintained older vehicles contributed to that increase.

He had spoken to a lot of mechanics who had found potentially dangerous defects in vehicles but could only advise the customer to get them fixed.

“I can buy a car tomorrow and I can drive it for 50 years and it could never have a roadworthy. That doesn’t mean the mechanic hasn’t looked at it but a mechanic isn’t obliged by law to compound your car if they think it’s unsafe, they’re only advised to tell you about it. Unless you get pulled over, you can just drive for as long as you like. I just I just think it’s bizarre,” he said.

An annual inspection by a mechanic would make every car safer. Picture: News Regional

He said governments were sending “mixed messages” by cracking down on driver behaviour while allowing unsafe cars to remain on the road.

“If you go five kilometres over the speed limit you’re penalised because we want to keep people safe. That’s not a problem. That’s all good, fantastic. But what if a car’s unroadworthy? The brakes don’t work, the tyres are bald, the shock absorbers don’t work very much. Why aren’t we interested in that?”

He said it was “very likely” that some cars involved in fatalities were unroadworthy.

“Very often we hear governments say that one life is a life to many and yet in other policy areas like this, it will be likely that some vehicles that have been involved in a fatality were unroadworthy before they hit the object they hit.”

Older, poorly maintained cars are more likely to be involved in accidents. Picture: Getty Images

He said police weren’t required to make an assessment of the road worthiness of a car involved in an accident, which meant it was hard to find data to establish a link between poor maintenance and accidents.

“If they had the data I think they’d be horrified.”

In a statement, Queensland’s Transport and Main Roads said it had no plans to change current safety certificate requirements.

“All motorists are urged to ensure their vehicles are roadworthy, and free of defects, for their own safety and to avoid a possible fine and defect notice.

“Defective vehicles have the potential to injure drivers, passengers or other road users and can even lead to a fatality,” the department said.

South Australia’s department for infrastructure and transport declined to comment on the issue.

A Victorian Department of Transport spokesperson said there was no compelling evidence that annual checks would reduce the number of unroadworthy cars on the road.

Originally published as Car industry calls for annual roadworthy checks on old vehicles in all states