Learner riders may soon be able to use electric motorcycles under recent amendments to the Land Transport Rules.
The Land Transport (Driver Licensing) Rule 1999 has been amended as part of the Land Transport Rule: Regulatory Stewardship (Omnibus) Amendment 2018.
The Omnibus consultation enables a diverse range of minor changes to several Land Transport Rules all at once, instead of consulting on each rule individually.
The final Amendment Rules have been made by the Associate Transport Minister Julie Anne Genter and will come into effect on 1 June 2019.
Currently, it is illegal for learner riders to use electric motorcycles. Learner riders are only able to use petrol-powered motorcycles that are generally 250 cc or less, or above if approved as being suitably low powered, under the Land Transport (Driver Licensing) Rule 1999.
Amendments to this rule means the Transport Agency can determine if an electrically-powered motorcycle should be approved for the Learner Approved Motorcycle scheme.
Most submissions were supportive of this change as only small low powered low speed models are available in New Zealand – however, high performance models available overseas are likely arrive in the country in the future.
Amendments to the Land Transport (Road User) Rule 2004 also clarify the legal use of bus lanes and heavy vehicle lanes which can affect some riders.
For the 2018 Omnibus Rule, the Associate Transport Minister made about 80 changes across 15 Land Transport Rules.
The changes in the latest Omnibus are necessary for a variety of reasons - from clarifying requirements to support enforcement or amending requirements to reflect current technologies.
You can view the final Omnibus Amendment Rules 2018 here – including a summary of submissions and our feedback.
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