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Legislative Assembly for the ACT: 1997 Week 9 Hansard (4 September) . . Page.. 3039 ..

MR WHITECROSS (continuing):

Page 4, line 25, after proposed paragraph 14(2)(a), insert the following paragraph:

"(ab) in the case of a motor vehicle or trailer in respect of which application for registration in the Territory is being made in a calendar year that is the third, fifth, seventh or subsequent anniversary after its date of manufacture - a certificate of inspection under section 26AP is issued certifying that the motor vehicle or trailer and its parts and equipment comply with such of the requirements of the Manual as are applicable to the motor vehicle or trailer and its parts and equipment;".

Mr Speaker, my amendments deal with specifying a system of regular inspections in order to obtain registration of motor vehicles; namely, after three years, five years and seven years, and every year thereafter. The reason that the Labor Party is so moving has been canvassed at the in-principle stage. It is a regime which is judged by the NRMA as being an appropriate frequency. It is a regime which accords with international practice. It is a regime which addresses the deficiencies of the Victorian scheme, which the Minister seeks to impose on us, and of the system of car park inspections which the New South Wales Roads and Traffic Authority says does not detect significant faults such as brake faults.

Mr Speaker, I have to say, in further supporting these changes and in perhaps addressing some of the remarks that Mr Moore made at the detail stage, that Mr Moore seems to advance the argument that having bad brakes does not cause accidents. I was initially surprised by this logic coming from Mr Moore - that bad brakes do not cause accidents - but then I remembered that Mr Moore also believes that not wearing a bicycle helmet reduces the risk of head injury. So, perhaps I should not be as surprised as all that. The simple fact is that the kinds of statistics that the Minister and, indeed, Mr Moore rely on are based on police reports, and the police reports are based on, not a forensic analysis of the cause of the accident, but an analysis of what offences have been committed.

What are the causes specified by the police in their reports when they are looking at fatal accidents? The causes are drink-driving, speeding, driver inattention - that is, negligent driving - and bald tyres, all of which are offences under the Motor Traffic Act. They do not get under the car and check whether the suspension was in good order. They do not have a look at whether one of the wheel cylinders was seized up or whether there was too much travel in the brake pedal, or whether there was too much play in the steering system. Mr Speaker, these are important contributing factors to accidents. In fact, they are contributing factors to accidents where the primary cause of the accident may be speed, road condition, drink-driving or some other factor. The fact that there is a primary cause of error by the driver, like speed or drink-driving, should not mean that we do not take every step we can to ensure that the vehicle the person is driving is in a roadworthy condition.

The underlying proposition of the Minister seems to be that it does not matter what condition the vehicle is in; it does not make any difference. But, Mr Speaker, the reality is that it does. The reality is that it is a contributor. Reputable motoring authorities all over the world agree that the statistics in relation to component failure's contribution to vehicle

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