Waka Kotahi NZ Transport Agency is urging New Zealanders to renew their temporarily extended Warrants of Fitness (WoFs), Certificates of Fitness (CoFs), driver licences and other documents by 10 October 2020 following a decision by Government this week on the expiry date for the temporarily extended documents.
This decision follows legislative changes made in April 2020 to temporarily extend expired/expiring land transport documents unable to be renewed due to COVID-19 restrictions. These changes enabled drivers to continue to drive and use their vehicle legally, when the ability to renew these documents was limited.
Media release: Waka Kotahi helping drivers navigate through lockdown period (9 April 2020)
Driver licences and endorsements, Warrants of Fitness (WoFs), Certificates of Fitness (CoFs) and other certification documents were temporarily extended and Waka Kotahi General Manager Regulatory Services, Kane Patena, thanks everyone who has already renewed their documents and completed vehicles inspections.
“We’ve seen 78% of vehicles with WoFs/CoFs expiring between 1 January and 2 August inspected already which is really pleasing. However, we’re keen to see people renew as quickly as possible to ensure vehicles remain safe to drive,” Mr Patena says.
“This is particularly relevant for commercial vehicles where safety must be a priority.”
Waka Kotahi encourages people to drop by a local inspection site or book to renew their WoFs/CoFs now to ensure they can continue using their vehicles.
“Our vehicle inspection providers are already seeing longer queues and inspection schedules filling up, and people run the risk of missing out on obtaining a new WoF or CoF before 11.59pm, 10 October 2020 if they leave it until the last minute,” Mr Patena says.
“It’s really important owners of commercial vehicles renew now so their vehicles can remain on the road legally and we keep our freight, passenger and emergency service vehicles moving, and moving safely.
“Likewise, our driver licensing agents are still dealing with significant wait times as a result of being closed for a long period of time and queues are expected to increase leading up to 10 October 2020. We encourage people to renew now to allow time for their application to be completed.”
After 10 October 2020, any vehicle with an expired WoF/CoF/certification must not be used until the vehicle inspection is completed or certification is reinstated.
If your driver licence expired on or after 1 January 2020 or your endorsement expired on or after 1 March 2020 and remains expired after 10 October 2020, you won’t be able to continue driving until it is renewed.
All vehicles must also display a current vehicle licence (rego) after 10 October 2020 and you can renew online now.
Renew vehicle licence (rego)(external link)
As there is a legal requirement for vehicles to be licensed continuously, licence fees are backdated to the original expiry date.
“The message is simple: renew now to ensure you’re driving legally, your vehicle is safe to drive and to beat the rush,” Mr Patena says.
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