Media statement | 20 March 2006

Land Transport NZ orders urgent safety inspection of 2250 heavy vehicles

Land Transport New Zealand is today notifying the registered owners of 2250 pre-1980 Ford trucks, buses and motor homes that their vehicles require urgent safety inspections.

The action follows the crash of a school bus in Southland earlier this month as a result of a complete loss of steering. Land Transport NZ's inspection of the bus found that a 'drag link' assembly in the vehicle's steering system had broken. Further inspection indicated that the component had been cracked for some time before breaking.

Land Transport NZ has established that the failure relates to the design of the drag link assemblies of 'R' and 'D' series heavy Ford vehicles manufactured prior to 1980. A total of 2250 of these vehicles are currently registered in New Zealand, comprising 1,844 trucks, 179 motor homes, 153 buses and 74 'miscellaneous' vehicles.

Many of these vehicles will already have been fitted with redesigned drag link assemblies as part of regular servicing, but individual inspections are necessary to check on the status of each vehicle.

Director of Land Transport Wayne Donnelly said Land Transport NZ was treating the situation as an urgent issue of public safety.

"The fact that these potentially defective components may be fitted to a large number of heavy vehicles on New Zealand roads, including buses, makes us extremely concerned.

"As such, we are instructing owners to cease operating these vehicles immediately and requiring them to have the vehicles checked by an independent heavy motor vehicle inspector," Mr Donnelly said.

Vehicles which fail the inspection will have their Certificate of Fitness (CoF) revoked and cannot be driven until the potentially faulty drag link assemblies have been replaced.

Owners of heavy vehicles who have not yet been contacted by Land Transport NZ and are concerned that their vehicle may be affected should visit www.landtransport.govt.nz/vehicle-safety/alerts to view a full list of the chassis numbers of affected vehicles, or ring Land Transport NZ's helpdesk on 0800 699 000.

For more information

Andy Knackstedt                                                         
Media Manager, Land Transport NZ                                                    

Ph: 04 931 8829  or  021 276 3222