New Police Interaction and Inspection Process

Key messages to the Transport Industry on changes to the police roadside interaction and inspection process.

In brief – changes to Roadside inspections

• NZ Police has changed the way we conduct roadside interactions and inspections for commercial vehicles.
• From 1^st July Information from roadside inspections will be collected using an App called “OnDuty”.
• Information previously printed at the roadside will no longer be provided. This applies to Infringement Offence Notice (ION), Written Traffic Warning (WTW) and Commercial Vehicle Inspection Reports (CVIR).
• Replacing the paper forms are electronically generated versions populated through the App on the officer’s mobile device.
• Whilst the process for staff carrying out interactions and inspections will essentially remain the same, the new tool will allow easier collection and collation of information.

In brief – changes to ION & WTW

• Infringement Offence Notices and Written Traffic Warnings are no longer issued on a paper form and given to the driver/operator at the roadside.
• The way information on an infringement or written warning is provided to commercial vehicle operators has changed.
• Police officers now record infringements and warnings electronically using their mobile devices. These are sent directly to the driver/operator’s registered address for service by Police’s preferred post provider. The driver/operator will receive the notice within 4 – 7 days.
• Payment of infringement fees can be done on the internet and at any branch of the Westpac Bank.
• Correspondence in relation to infringements continues to be handled by the Police Infringement Bureau.

In brief – changes to CVIR

• NZ Police has changed the way we record and deliver CVIR information.
• The OnDuty app provides the ability to populate all driver, operator, vehicle, and load details into the officer’s mobile device.
• The new process will streamline how we collect information, and reduce the time a commercial vehicle operator is stopped at the roadside.
• The CVIR will be sent electronically to NZTA who will email the report to the transport operator listed on its database; provided the information that has been supplied to them is correct and up to date. The CVIR cannot be emailed direct to an operator from an officer’s device.
• The change means that operators should receive the CVIR and notification of any defects identified quicker than they may have in the past. This will help operators ensure their vehicles are roadworthy.
• OnDuty CVIR has been designed to complete a CVIR quickly and easily. For example:
  • Accurately recording the inspection location using GPS
  • Fields are populated by information gathered from the Person and the Operator and the Vehicle and its Load at the time the vehicle is stopped
  • Quicker capture of vehicle defects. The new CoD provides simpler code tables that make it easier to use and will allow for future changes to be made available sooner
  • Faster issuing of IONs. Navigation between the CVIR and ION allows most details to be pre-populated on to each electronic form set allowing timely and accurate ION processing should it be required.

In brief – changes to the HMV Categorisation of Defects (CoD)

• The HMV CoD was last updated in 2012. Since then a vast number of changes have taken place that should be reflected in the CoD.
• In consultation with industry partners NZTA and Police have introduced a new version of the HMV CoD.
• The CoD now contains new codes that relate to the safety risk that a defect presents. The colour coding still remains as, Pink for a serious safety risk, Green for a moderate safety risk, and Green 2 for a minor risk.
• All defect codes are arranged alphabetically and align to the area of the vehicle where the defect has been located.

Examples:

A brake system defect will have a risk code starting with B followed by the sub system the defect is in, ie, BA is for brake air system, BF for brake foundation system.

Similarly a lighting system defect will have a risk code starting with L followed by the type of light that is defective, ie, LH is for light – headlight, LB is for light – brake light.

• Many risk codes have either been combined or reduced or removed to give better descriptions and less duplications.
• No risk codes are the same as the old version therefore there is no risk to conflicting codes for an operator’s ORS score. Some codes score less in RID than they did before.
• CVIU have made some changes to the way we take action when defects are found to better reflect the paperless version of the CVIR.

In brief – changes to the enforcement action taken (if required)

• No written advice will be provided at the roadside. The driver will be verbally advised of what they need to do to remedy any defect, the driver may take notes or ask the officer to point out the defect, and the driver may take photos or contact the operator and ask the officer if he/she is available to explain the defect.
• Where a high safety risk defect is found, the officer may place the vehicle out of service using the normal non-operation order, either a pink or a green sticker, depending on the circumstance at the time, these will continue to be issued on a notice at the roadside and a sticker attached to the offending vehicle.
• Part of the new process includes a minor change to the way that minor risk defect compliance is handled. Officers will continue to offer compliance for minor risk defects to operators, but rather than noting it on a CVIR the officer will issue an Infringement offence notice with compliance offered using the OnDuty app on their device.
• Instead of being required to provide evidence that a defect has been remedied to the officer, the operator must now provide the evidence to the Police Infringement Bureau (PIB) that it has been fixed. Compliance notices will be handled and actioned by PIB using the same process as for all other offence notices.
• The ION will include details of what the notice recipient/operator must do to meet the conditions of the compliance offered, and instructions for forwarding evidence to the PIB.
• On providing that evidence to the PIB that a defect has been remedied, the infringement fee will be waived.
• The driver remains responsible for understanding what they need to do and for passing the information on to their employer.
• Police will take the time to fully explain to the driver what they need to do to remedy the defect, but no written advice will be provided at the roadside.
• This ION with compliance will be posted to the recipient/operator’s address for service by Police’s preferred post provider and will be received by them within 4 to 7 days.
• Transport operators must ensure that if an ION with compliance is sent to a third party, ie, an accountant or lawyer, that they have systems in place to have the notice actioned as soon as possible to meet the compliance timeframe.
• The alternative actions used in the previous CoD have also changed slightly, where QP and QG were used for roadside repairs, this has simply become Roadside Repair (RR). All operators have the option of rectifying defects at the roadside provided the conditions are safe to do so, the officer will only offer this option if he/she is satisfied the repair can be done fully and safely at the roadside. The repair must be completed so that the safety risk the defect posed is no longer there and the vehicle is returned to full compliance. Regardless of the risk category (pink, green, or green 2) no new CoF is required if a roadside repair is completed.

If the repair cannot be fully completed the officer will take another appropriate action.

• The officer may issue a verbal direction if he/she believes the circumstances warrant it, this may include where a very minor issue has been found that requires no further action on the officer’s part. Note that a verbal direction from an enforcement officer is a legal direction and could result in further enforcement action if ignored. The driver/operator must comply with an officer’s request.