If you're caught committing certain driving offences, the vehicle you're driving can be impounded by the police. This page explains when your vehicle can be impounded, what happens at the roadside and the actions you need to take to get it back.
Changes to the Police fail to stop vehicle impoundment system come into effect through the Land Transport (Road Safety) Amendment Act 2023 on 1 March 2024. These include:
Updated police forms reflecting these changes will be issued from 1 March. The impound process for fail to stop events remains the same.
From 1 March, Police will have discretion to order the seizure and impoundment of a vehicle for six months if it fails to stop (and remain stopped) when signalled by Police. This replaces the current 28-day fail to stop impoundment provision.
The vehicle’s registered person will be responsible for paying the towage and storage provider fees as set out in the following rule.
Land Transport (Storage and Towage Fees for Impounded Vehicles) Regulations 1999(external link)
To give providers financial certainty, vehicles impounded for six months will be considered ‘abandoned’ and can be transferred to the provider after 38 days if the registered person has not:
If neither of the above conditions are met at the end of the 38-day period, the storage provider can either request a transfer of ownership and sell the vehicle or apply to Police for permission to dispose of the vehicle and claim the $253 rebate from NZ Transport Agency.
In addition to the appeal rights set out in sections 102 and 110 of the Land Transport Act 1998, in the instance of six-month impoundment, a vehicle may be released if impoundment will cause extreme hardship (for the vehicle’s registered person) or undue hardship (for another person). A vehicle would not be released if the Court considered it contrary to the interests of road safety. Vehicles impounded for 28-days are not eligible for hardship appeals.
A vehicle may also be released from six-month impoundment if a financial services provider or other creditor becomes the registered person and successfully appeals to Police for its release. When creditors repossess a vehicle, they are not liable to pay impoundment fees from the time they become a registered person for the vehicle until the time it is released.
Land Transport Act 1998, section 102 Appeal to Police against impoundment of vehicle(external link)
From 1 March, Police will have discretion to order the seizure and impoundment of a vehicle for a period of 28 days if the registered person or driver
The Ministry of Transport recognises that regulatory settings, including fee levels, for police impoundments and council towage need to be reviewed. It expects to have an update soon on the timing and scope of this work.
For more information on six-month impoundments or other changes introduced by the Land Transport (Road Safety) Amendment Act, please contact the Ministry of Transport at info@transport.govt.nz
