Vehicle classes and standards

There are over four million vehicles registered for use on New Zealand roads. These range from cars and motorcycles to big rigs and trailers. Nearly all vehicles are imported and must meet technical standards before entering the country. They must then meet other vehicle standards and regularly pass inspections that ensure their ongoing roadworthiness.

Standards that apply to your vehicle

Here you can find the specific standards for lights, tyres and other safety features.

Exceptions to the standards

This section explains the exceptions to our vehicle and equipment standards requirements.

List of approved standards

Our law draws on standards from Australia, Japan, Europe and the United States. Through incorporating these different standards in New Zealand transport law, we've ensured that the requirements work to achieve the same safety objectives.

Environmental standards for vehicles

Here we explain how to reduce the negative impacts that vehicles can have on the environment.

Vehicle classes

Classifying vehicles is an important part of ensuring they are safe. In New Zealand we use two classification systems – one for vehicle equipment standards and the other for registration purposes.

Vehicle dimensions and mass

This section describes the legal requirements in the Land Transport Rule: Vehicle Dimensions and Mass 2016 that apply to vehicle types below.