Illegal to raise/lower more than 5cm?

[4Vman]

I think you'll find the key intent is "modified" which excludes factory design/fitment...

[Pedders]

Originally Posted by ltd_on20s

nice work kingy.


from all these letters, has ANYONE (manufacturers and sponsors inccluded) received a response of any kind yet?

As we are memebers of the AAAA any response would be sent to them and then on forwarded to the members. If I have more info be assured I will post it.

[King Nothing]

Originally Posted by 4Vman

I think you'll find the key intent is "modified" which excludes factory design/fitment...

I won't want to test that in court. The first line of that section states

"Variable height suspension control systems"

It doesn't explicitly state aftermarket systems. Also, the last line of that section states

"A statement of conformance must be provided as part of the certificate issued by the engineering signatory or manufacturer, or manufacturer's authorised dealer."

Is tha manufacturer the company that builds the aftermarket part, or the car company? Or both?

Lawyers can pick stuff like this apart.

[4Vman]

Originally Posted by King Nothing

I won't want to test that in court. The first line of that section states

"Variable height suspension control systems"

It doesn't explicitly state aftermarket systems. Also, the last line of that section states

"A statement of conformance must be provided as part of the certificate issued by the engineering signatory or manufacturer, or manufacturer's authorised dealer."

Is tha manufacturer the company that builds the aftermarket part, or the car company? Or both?

Lawyers can pick stuff like this apart.

READ THE VSI... it relates to light vehicle MODIFICATIONS......

READ the status and purpose... "from their original design"...

[flappist]

Originally Posted by King Nothing

I won't want to test that in court. The first line of that section states

"Variable height suspension control systems"

It doesn't explicitly state aftermarket systems. Also, the last line of that section states

"A statement of conformance must be provided as part of the certificate issued by the engineering signatory or manufacturer, or manufacturer's authorised dealer."

Is tha manufacturer the company that builds the aftermarket part, or the car company? Or both?

Lawyers can pick stuff like this apart.

Almost as quickly as they will pick your bank account apart. Stay out of court, regardless of the verdict you will always be the loser in the big picture.

[4Vman]

If people are going to send off letters, (which is a good start), if you want your letter to be taken seriously (rather than dumped in the dummy spit "hoony" bin) may i suggest you have a thorough understanding of the actual proposed VSI before attacking it....?
Also apart from keeping it brief, accurate and to the point, using decent intellect, punctuation, grammar and spelling would also be helpful....!

[King Nothing]

Has anyone got a copy of VSI 50 saved on their hard drive or printed from the day it was released? I have a funny feeling things have changed.

I've just read through it again (opened from the RTA website), and the only reference it makes to lowering a car 50mm is in the "Purpose" section;

"it limits the change in ride height...to +/- 50mm"

Nowhere else in the entire document does it state that lowering a car beyond 50mm is illegal. Sure, it does in the raising section. It also mention that you cannot lower your car by changing the wheel/tyre size by greater than 15mm.

Under the "Lowering a Vehicle" section, the only requirements are

Not be less than 100mm within 1m of an axle
Be less than 1/30th of the distance between centres of adjacent axles..
Allow the vehicle to pass over a peak in the road with the gradient on either side of 1:15.
Running clearance must not be less than 100mm

It doesn't explicitly state anywhere in the lowering a vehicle section that 50mm is the limit. The only reference, as I said, is in the purpose section. Has this changed from a previous version?

[hame]

Originally Posted by flappist

Almost as quickly as they will pick your bank account apart. Stay out of court, regardless of the verdict you will always be the loser in the big picture.

And that's exactly why our rights are slowly being stripped away from us.

How do you affect change if your not prepared to fight for it.

[King Nothing]

Originally Posted by flappist

Almost as quickly as they will pick your bank account apart. Stay out of court, regardless of the verdict you will always be the loser in the big picture.

Just a point I was making, purely academic.

[4Vman]

Originally Posted by hame

And that's exactly why our rights are slowly being stripped away from us.

How do you affect change if your not prepared to fight for it.

By thoroughly understanding how to effect change before flying off the handle "willy nilly" and stuffing your chances....

[flappist]

Originally Posted by hame

And that's exactly why our rights are slowly being stripped away from us.

How do you affect change if your not prepared to fight for it.

Join the party (which ever one you like), attend meetings, lobby those in power, make suggestions and point out flaws in policy, help fix Australia rather than complain about others breaking it.......

[Wally]

Interesting how they are slipping the light vehicle changes into 55(3)(b) legislation:

(3) A person who modifies, or adds components to, a registrable vehicle must ensure that:

............
b) the modification or addition is certified by an authorised person as complying with the National Code of Practice for Heavy Vehicle Modifications (1993) published by the Federal Office of Road Safety as Vehicle Standards Bulletin No 6 or a specification published by the Authority or is otherwise acceptable to the Authority.

[xbgs351]

Originally Posted by 4Vman

I think you'll find the key intent is "modified" which excludes factory design/fitment...

I would like to think so, but some of the blurb such as the following does make this as clear as mud in a beer bottle.


A statement of conformance must be provided as part of the certificate issued by the engineering signatory or manufacturer, or manufacturer's authorised dealer.

This VSI applies to vehicles modified or presented to an AUVIS after 31 July 2008.

[King Nothing]

Guys, I've got my first reply. It's from Andrew Stoner's (Shadow Roads Minister) Media Adviser. It looks like they are only interested in 4WDs, not cars as well. So please get writing or we will be left behind!

Thank you for your email.

I have chosen to respond on Andrew's behalf.

It's absurd that the Rees Labor Government can't tell the difference
between recreational 4WD'ers and hoons.

Most 4WD owners are responsible drivers, not 'young hoons', and they
don't deserve to be punished.

The Minister needs to realise that most 4WD owners raise their
vehicles' suspension for safety reasons, not to make them look 'cool'.

This is just another example of the out of touch Rees Government making
up policy on the run. Unfortunately this decision will end up costing
and inconveniencing thousands of responsible motorists.

We will continue to raise this issue in the media over the coming
weeks, and in Parliament when it resumes.

Kind regards



Ben Shine
Media Adviser to Andrew Stoner MP
Leader of The Nationals - NSW
http://www.andrewstoner.com.au
(02) 9230 2281

[Nikked]

Good to see some feed back, not many people have.

[Keepleft]

Roll up, gather round everyone, Athol is on FB and also appears at the aus.cars newsgroup, he is another fellow Newcastle-based advocate:-

View original post by Athol Mullen, posted here with his express permission. KL:-
http://you-have-to-be-kidding.blogspot.com...ws-release.html

22 July 2009
The "Car Hoons" news release
On Thursday, 16th July 2009, NSW Minister for Roads, Michael Daley MP released a News Release titled Tough New Rules for Car Hoons.

The intent of the announcement was ostensibly to crack down on "car hoons" who drive vehicles that the minister thinks are unsafe.

Unfortunately, the content of the news release is factually inaccurate and the minister (or whoever wrote the news release for him) clearly either does not know or understand the content of the NSW RTA Code of Practice for Light Vehicle Modifications, the Australian Design Rules and Schedule 2 of the Road Transport (Vehicle Registration) Regulation 2007, or is misrepresenting that code of practice and those legislative instruments.

The majority of the "car hoons" that the minister seeks to regulate more strictly are driving vehicles that are not legal. That's right, not legal. Some may have documentation that makes them appear legal, but proper inspection would reveal either that the vehicles are not consistent with that documentation or that the documentation has been issued in error. So, if the people that will be affected are not these "car hoons", who are they? The answer is almost everybody else.

Examples of people affected include ordinary motorists who replace sagged, worn out suspension springs in their vehicles; infrastructure corporations such as rail maintenance and electricity companies; farmers and hunters who have their vehicles raised for normal day to day farm operations; grey nomads who have heavy duty springs and tyres fitted to their 4WDs so that they can tow their caravan or camping trailer to visit remote parts of the country; predominantly family oriented 4WD enthusiasts and clubs; charity groups who are helped by 4WD clubs to take terminally ill children to places that they couldn't otherwise access; environmental rehabilitation groups who are assisted in removing rubbish by 4WD clubs; emergency response groups including SES; 4WD tour operators; participants in charity bashes; the residents of remote communities for whom 4WD tourism is the basis of their local economy; hot rod and modified car owners and all of the industries that support these people in their activities.

What is the minister's definition of a "car hoon"? Elsewhere, he refers to "young hoons". Given that some of the people affected are senior citizens, what is the minister's definition of "young"?

The real problem is that the government have starved the RTA and Police Force of the funding required to effectively operate, let alone training Inspectors for Vehicle Regulation (IVRs) and Police Officers, and to assist in ongoing review and training of Engineering Signatories to ensure that the existing system operates as intended. This is not just my personal opinion, but is based upon public and private statements made by IVRs, police officers, RTA staff and other signatory engineers since the current labor government, then led by Bob Carr, came to power in 1995.

For example, a few years ago, a Highway Patrol police officer stated in a usenet news group that they couldn't get funds to purchase paper for their photocopier, but that they could use petrol that cost more than the paper and waste considerable time to drive to another station and back to collect a ream of paper, because the fuel was in a different budget.

As an engineering signatory, I have offered to run a training "question and answer" sessions for local Highway Patrol Police Officers several times over the past decade. The officers and Patrol Commander that I suggested it to were positive about the idea, but it went no further because there is simply no funding available to do it.

So we have unsafe, illegally modified vehicles being driven on the roads, with the Police and RTA not having the resources and training necessary to detect and defect all of those vehicles. The minister's solution is to change the rules, thinking that the vehicles are actually legal because they haven't been defected. The new rules can only be described as draconian, misguided and almost certainly unworkable. The irony is that they won't have the slightest effect on the illegally modified vehicles that were ostensibly the target. Drivers of illegally modified vehicles will continue to operate those vehicles outside the law, regardless of how strict those laws are made.

So lets take a look at a few statements from the news release.

* "At the moment, vehicles can be raised or lowered by up to 5 centimetres without approval, and by up to 15 centimetres with authorised engineering approval."


The statement is completely and utterly false. It may have come about from an attempt to simplify the actual rules, but the result is nowhere the truth. Under the existing Code of Practice, vehicles can be raised or lowered by up to 1/3 of the original suspension clearance without requiring certification. This is a direct function of the vehicle design, varying from less than 20mm on some cars to around 70mm on some 4WD vehicles.

The 15cm limit with an engineering certificate does not exist in any way, shape or form. To raise or lower a vehicle by more than the 1/3 of suspension clearance described above, the design of suspension must be changed or an entirely different suspension fitted in place of the original. In these situations, the design of the suspension and the position of that suspension relative to the chassis rails will determine the resulting height of the vehicle. This means that there is no defined 15cm limit. For example, a light commercial vehicle from the 1920s to 1950s that is fitted with more modern suspension components might be lowered by more than 15cm, bringing its front bumper bar to around the same height as a modern vehicle, and hence improving not only its handling and braking but also its compatibility with modern vehicles in a crash.

If the existing 1/3 of suspension clearance rule is replaced with a blanket 50mm limit with certification, as proposed, many cars will now be able to be lowered further than is presently legal, and well beyond the vehicle manufacturer's recommendations. The initial version of Vehicle Standards Bulletin 50, the RTA policy document that attempts to implement this ministerial directive is ambiguous on this point.

* "I don't want to see young hoons putting their lives or the lives of others at risk, just because they think their car looks better 15 centimetres closer to the ground."


This statement is remarkable in how it shows how out of touch with reality the minister is. For cars newer than the 1960s, it would be a genuine struggle to physically lower them by 15cm without major modifications. Even ignoring for a moment the legislated requirement for a minimum ground clearance of 10cm (or more depending on wheelbase), the physical modifications required to lower a car 15cm would essentially require the removal of the entire suspension and could certainly never be legal. On a few models of 4WD passenger vehicles, lowering them can be physically possible because they are a raised version of a normal height car, but they cannot be legal at that height because they change ADR category (MC to MA) due to that lowered height, and they cannot be shown to comply with the ADR requirements for that changed category.

Perhaps the minister can name a model of car popular with "young hoons" that has an original ground clearance of at least 25cm, such that it can be lowered 15cm and still comply with the ADRs and maintain the legally required 10cm?

* "It can affect handling, braking and safety features such as electronic stability control."


A correct statement, but the assumption that the effect is automatically negative is remarkably naiive, as is the assumption that vehicles where these are negatively affected will be legal.

Many older vehicles that are lowered are done so as part of modernising the suspension and improving the vehicle dynamics including handling and braking. Such vehicles usually have their other safety features improved at the same time, such as by fitting seatbelts, a collapsible steering column, windscreen washers and demister and improved windscreen wipers. Encouraging such vehicles to continue to be driven without these modifications would be to discourage safety improvements.

Modern safety features already limit the extent of modifications that can be carried out on vehicles. For example, because the dynamics of how the front of a vehicle collapses in a crash are critical to the operation of SRS airbags, 4WD vehicles that are equipped with SRS airbags cannot be fitted with a body lift, (spacing the body up on the chassis) unless it is possible to prove that the SRS system will not be adversely affected by the body lift. To date, I have never seen such proof for any vehicle model, and body lifts are not legally fitted to any SRS airbag equipped vehicle that I know of.

For vehicles where ESC is fitted, a similar situation applies, with alterations in suspension height and tyre diameter being restricted. As I understand it, aftermarket companies in the USA now offer "piggyback" computers to re-tune the ESC system to compensate for suspension height and tyre diameter changes. Aftermarket companies in Australia already offer re-tuning kits for ESC on several models of car. This needs to be addressed specifically for ESC equipped vehicles rather than trying to apply a rule relating to ESC to vehicles that are not fitted with it. When there is an Australian Design Rule that mandates the performance of ESC, such recalibration will be mandatory for continued ADR compliance.

* "Raising a vehicle's suspension can also reduce the driver's ability to see pedestrians and cyclists, and higher headlights can startle other road users,"


Is the minister allowing Harold Scruby to write his speeches for him?

Raising a vehicle within the limits of safe and predictable handling and within the ADR prescribed limits for light heights, including the ADR prescribed legal maximum height for headlights effectively limits any adverse reduction in vision of pedestrians and cyclists close to the vehicle while improving vision of people and objects further away.

For vehicles 1994 and newer, ADR 8/01 also prescribes a Primary Vision Area, and legal raising of such vehicles is limited by the ability to maintain compliance with that requirement.

An ADR compliant headlight installed at a height within the prescribed limits of the ADRs and adjusted in accordance with those rules is legal in NSW according to the Road Transport (Vehicle Registration) Regulation 2007.

Again, the minister appears to be confusing illegally modified vehicles with legally modified vehicles.

If the minister is genuinely concerned about vehicle lights startling other drivers, it would be far more productive for him to act upon the continued widespread illegal use of front and rear fog lights and the failure of the checking of headlight aim during registration inspections. It is over a decade since an RTA IVR told my then employer to "at least wipe the dust off the top" of his headlight aim testing machine "so that it looks like it has been used". Judging by the number of vehicles driving around with obviously misaimed headlights today, this problem appears to remain widespread.

* "Mr Daley said any vehicle being raised or lowered would require certification stating the modifications conform to safety standard requirements."


This proposal means that many vehicles that presently wouldn't require certification will require certification in the future. Leaving aside the issue of how it is determined whether a vehicle was raised before or after the implementation of these new rules, there are the connected issues of the fact that many new vehicles are raised within this range by rural new vehicle dealers before delivery, and the availability and distribution of engineering signatories across the state. Quite simply, the economic implications of requiring certification of these vehicles are staggering and the limited availability of signatory engineers makes it virtually impossible to implement.

* "The changes also mean any modifications must meet specific requirements such as the vehicle having at least 10 centimetres ground clearance."


This is a misrepresentation of the current situation. Regardless of whether a vehicle is certified or not, the 10cm minimum ground clearance requirement is already an enforceable requirement within Schedule 2 of the Road Transport (Vehicle Registration) Regulation 2007. It is not a new requirement. I also understand that regulations governing licensed vehicle repairers makes it an offence for them to modify a registrable vehicle such that it does not comply with the ADRs or state regulations. Again, the minister appears unfamiliar with the existing legislation and appears to be confusing illegally modified vehicles with legally modified vehicles.

* "Vehicles raised above the 5 centimetre limit will only be granted conditional registration for use under specified conditions like competing in an off road competition."


This assumes that vehicles raised by more than 5cm are not "daily use" vehicles. That is an assumption that many people in rural NSW would dispute. During the debate about banning bullbars in urban areas a few years ago, one farmer who had to travel to Sydney on a regular basis to take his then pregnant wife to see a specialist asked whether this would mean that he would have to unbolt the bullbar from his vehicle and chain it to a post on the side of the Great Western Highway on every trip. Conditional registration that limits the use of raised vehicles in the city, as Mr Daley's policy advisor has apparently stated as being part of the intent, would seem to imply that rural people would have to change their suspension during each trip. An obviously absurd and impossible proposition.

This also assumes that the vehicle owner is rich enough to pay to buy an additional vehicle and pay for registration and insurance on an additional vehicle. So much for the Aussie Battler.

I note that the method of implementation of this announcement is by way of a policy document issued by the RTA, and not by legislation. It is extremely worrying that the rule has not been the subject of parliamentary scrutiny and has not apparently been the subject of any consultation with any affected groups outside the RTA.

I call upon the minister to immediately order that Vehicle Inspectors Bulletin 50 be rescinded, and given that the minister appears to have displayed gross incompetence and appears to have lost the confidence of a significant portion of the voting population of NSW, I call upon the minister to resign.
Posted by Athol Mullen at 3:43 PM

King Nothing; Andrew Stoner's office will be examining all this in greater detail next week.

[platinumXR]

A measured and appropriate response (one of many) and highlights the usual amount of rhetorical nonsense misinformed and asinine politicians spruik in order to be seen to be doing something.

My guess, and it is a guess: is that this whole incident may bring the entire modification and engineering requirement into scrutiny regardless, but as I said I doubt it will go too much further. May take a bit to invalidate, but none the less.

[King Nothing]

Here is the coalition's "official" response.

The NSW Labor Government’s recent policy announcement to make it an offence to lower or raise a car’s suspension was clearly made on the run.

The NSW Liberals and Nationals oppose these changes, which have been introduced by the Rees Labor Government without consultation or any parliamentary debate.

The changes will affect many law abiding motorists, including 4WD users, rural motorists and even wheelchair taxis, yet they will do nothing to stop the so-called hoons, who already modify their vehicles outside the existing laws.

The vast majority of 4WD owners are responsible drivers, not 'young hoons', and they don't deserve to be punished.

The solution to 'hoons' is better enforcement of the existing vehicle standards, not a nonsensical bureaucratic decree.

The NSW Liberals and Nationals have called upon the Roads Minister to withdraw the policy forthwith and will continue to pursue this issue on behalf of NSW motorists when Parliament resumes in September.

[MAD]

I cant believe it, I think we are going to see a win for the motoring public.

[Macca23]

Well the news around my office, is that its in 2weeks time! What a pitta :(

[Ross-b]

im 18. havent voted yet

but next time it comes around

liberal

oh by the way

does this mean it not going to go through on august 1st or just that its going to be argued in the last week and a bit?

[King Nothing]

Dunno just yet. At the moment, officially it's still going through. Although the AAAA and one of the big 4WD clubs have met with the RTA and there is talk it might be delayed.

[Nikked]

I think this just highlights how incompetent some MPs are. The are given a section to operate under even though they have little knowledge about what they are an MP for.

[Mark351]

The reactions that will have the most affect, if any, on changes to this policy will be from industry and engineers such as Mr Mullen.

[King Nothing]

I received a reply from my local member. She is ALP, so needs to follow the party line to some degree. But at least I know she's aware.

Thank you for sending me a copy of your recent emails to the Hon
Michael Daley MP, Minister for Roads, regarding Vehicle Standards
Information (VSI) 50: Raising and Lowering Vehicles.

I have also made representations on this matter to the Minister, but I
have been advised by his office that a significant amount of
correspondence and enquiries in relation to this issue have been
received. They will respond to all queries as soon as possible, but I
cannot be sure of receiving a full reply before 1 August as you
requested.

As you may be aware, the changes to vehicle modification standards will
not be retrospective. This means that if your vehicle was legally
modified prior to 31 July 2009, then it will remain a legally modified
vehicle. Only modifications to vehicles after 31 July 2009 will be
subject to the new standard requirements, as stated in VSI 50.

I hope the abovementioned information is of assistance to you in the
interim. As soon as I receive a full reply from the Minister, I will
contact you again.

Yours sincerely,

Also, an article from the Sunday Telegraph.



Things are starting to happen, so keep the pressure on! Keep emailing, calling, faxing and spreading awareness of this issue.

[MAD]

Interesting she says that previously modified cars are exempt, which brings back the question, "how do you prove it?"


Its great to see that there is plenty of backlash on this one, coming from all directions.
Surely common sense will prevail in this instance.

[Interceptor]

Originally Posted by MAD

Surely common sense will prevail in this instance.

you're kidding, right?

[The Yeti]

http://www.facebook.com/home.php#/pa...7290754?ref=nf

Car Enthusiasts Against Lowering and Raising Vehicle Law wroteon July 25, 2009 at 11:54am
This is an open blog written by one of the RTA's own signatory engineers. It describes the retardedness of these new rules perfectly.


You have to be kidding

The "Car Hoons" news release

On Thursday, 16th July 2009, NSW Minister for Roads, Michael Daley MP released a News Release titled Tough New Rules for Car Hoons.

The intent of the announcement was ostensibly to crack down on "car hoons" who drive vehicles that the minister thinks are unsafe.

Unfortunately, the content of the news release is factually inaccurate and the minister (or whoever wrote the news release for him) clearly either does not know or understand the content of the NSW RTA Code of Practice for Light Vehicle Modifications, the Australian Design Rules and Schedule 2 of the Road Transport (Vehicle Registration) Regulation 2007, or is misrepresenting that code of practice and those legislative instruments.

The majority of the "car hoons" that the minister seeks to regulate more strictly are driving vehicles that are not legal. That's right, not legal. Some may have documentation that makes them appear legal, but proper inspection would reveal either that the vehicles are not consistent with that documentation or that the documentation has been issued in error. So, if the people that will be affected are not these "car hoons", who are they? The answer is almost everybody else.

Examples of people affected include ordinary motorists who replace sagged, worn out suspension springs in their vehicles; infrastructure corporations such as rail maintenance and electricity companies; farmers and hunters who have their vehicles raised for normal day to day farm operations; grey nomads who have heavy duty springs and tyres fitted to their 4WDs so that they can tow their caravan or camping trailer to visit remote parts of the country; predominantly family oriented 4WD enthusiasts and clubs; charity groups who are helped by 4WD clubs to take terminally ill children to places that they couldn't otherwise access; environmental rehabilitation groups who are assisted in removing rubbish by 4WD clubs; emergency response groups including SES; 4WD tour operators; participants in charity bashes; the residents of remote communities for whom 4WD tourism is the basis of their local economy; hot rod and modified car owners and all of the industries that support these people in their activities.

What is the minister's definition of a "car hoon"? Elsewhere, he refers to "young hoons". Given that some of the people affected are senior citizens, what is the minister's definition of "young"?

The real problem is that the government have starved the RTA and Police Force of the funding required to effectively operate, let alone training Inspectors for Vehicle Regulation (IVRs) and Police Officers, and to assist in ongoing review and training of Engineering Signatories to ensure that the existing system operates as intended. This is not just my personal opinion, but is based upon public and private statements made by IVRs, police officers, RTA staff and other signatory engineers since the current labor government, then led by Bob Carr, came to power in 1995.

For example, a few years ago, a Highway Patrol police officer stated in a usenet news group that they couldn't get funds to purchase paper for their photocopier, but that they could use petrol that cost more than the paper and waste considerable time to drive to another station and back to collect a ream of paper, because the fuel was in a different budget.

As an engineering signatory, I have offered to run a training "question and answer" sessions for local Highway Patrol Police Officers several times over the past decade. The officers and Patrol Commander that I suggested it to were positive about the idea, but it went no further because there is simply no funding available to do it.

So we have unsafe, illegally modified vehicles being driven on the roads, with the Police and RTA not having the resources and training necessary to detect and defect all of those vehicles. The minister's solution is to change the rules, thinking that the vehicles are actually legal because they haven't been defected. The new rules can only be described as draconian, misguided and almost certainly unworkable. The irony is that they won't have the slightest effect on the illegally modified vehicles that were ostensibly the target. Drivers of illegally modified vehicles will continue to operate those vehicles outside the law, regardless of how strict those laws are made.

So lets take a look at a few statements from the news release.


"At the moment, vehicles can be raised or lowered by up to 5 centimetres without approval, and by up to 15 centimetres with authorised engineering approval."

The statement is completely and utterly false. It may have come about from an attempt to simplify the actual rules, but the result is nowhere the truth. Under the existing Code of Practice, vehicles can be raised or lowered by up to 1/3 of the original suspension clearance without requiring certification. This is a direct function of the vehicle design, varying from less than 20mm on some cars to around 70mm on some 4WD vehicles.

The 15cm limit with an engineering certificate does not exist in any way, shape or form. To raise or lower a vehicle by more than the 1/3 of suspension clearance described above, the design of suspension must be changed or an entirely different suspension fitted in place of the original. In these situations, the design of the suspension and the position of that suspension relative to the chassis rails will determine the resulting height of the vehicle. This means that there is no defined 15cm limit. For example, a light commercial vehicle from the 1920s to 1950s that is fitted with more modern suspension components might be lowered by more than 15cm, bringing its front bumper bar to around the same height as a modern vehicle, and hence improving not only its handling and braking but also its compatibility with modern vehicles in a crash.

If the existing 1/3 of suspension clearance rule is replaced with a blanket 50mm limit with certification, as proposed, many cars will now be able to be lowered further than is presently legal, and well beyond the vehicle manufacturer's recommendations. The initial version of Vehicle Standards Bulletin 50, the RTA policy document that attempts to implement this ministerial directive is ambiguous on this point.


"I don't want to see young hoons putting their lives or the lives of others at risk, just because they think their car looks better 15 centimetres closer to the ground."

This statement is remarkable in how it shows how out of touch with reality the minister is. For cars newer than the 1960s, it would be a genuine struggle to physically lower them by 15cm without major modifications. Even ignoring for a moment the legislated requirement for a minimum ground clearance of 10cm (or more depending on wheelbase), the physical modifications required to lower a car 15cm would essentially require the removal of the entire suspension and could certainly never be legal. On a few models of 4WD passenger vehicles, lowering them can be physically possible because they are a raised version of a normal height car, but they cannot be legal at that height because they change ADR category (MC to MA) due to that lowered height, and they cannot be shown to comply with the ADR requirements for that changed category.

Perhaps the minister can name a model of car popular with "young hoons" that has an original ground clearance of at least 25cm, such that it can be lowered 15cm and still comply with the ADRs and maintain the legally required 10cm?


"It can affect handling, braking and safety features such as electronic stability control."

A correct statement, but the assumption that the effect is automatically negative is remarkably naiive, as is the assumption that vehicles where these are negatively affected will be legal.

Many older vehicles that are lowered are done so as part of modernising the suspension and improving the vehicle dynamics including handling and braking. Such vehicles usually have their other safety features improved at the same time, such as by fitting seatbelts, a collapsible steering column, windscreen washers and demister and improved windscreen wipers. Encouraging such vehicles to continue to be driven without these modifications would be to discourage safety improvements.

Modern safety features already limit the extent of modifications that can be carried out on vehicles. For example, because the dynamics of how the front of a vehicle collapses in a crash are critical to the operation of SRS airbags, 4WD vehicles that are equipped with SRS airbags cannot be fitted with a body lift, (spacing the body up on the chassis) unless it is possible to prove that the SRS system will not be adversely affected by the body lift. To date, I have never seen such proof for any vehicle model, and body lifts are not legally fitted to any SRS airbag equipped vehicle that I know of.

For vehicles where ESC is fitted, a similar situation applies, with alterations in suspension height and tyre diameter being restricted. As I understand it, aftermarket companies in the USA now offer "piggyback" computers to re-tune the ESC system to compensate for suspension height and tyre diameter changes. Aftermarket companies in Australia already offer re-tuning kits for ESC on several models of car. This needs to be addressed specifically for ESC equipped vehicles rather than trying to apply a rule relating to ESC to vehicles that are not fitted with it. When there is an Australian Design Rule that mandates the performance of ESC, such recalibration will be mandatory for continued ADR compliance.


"Raising a vehicle's suspension can also reduce the driver's ability to see pedestrians and cyclists, and higher headlights can startle other road users,"

Is the minister allowing Harold Scruby to write his speeches for him?

Raising a vehicle within the limits of safe and predictable handling and within the ADR prescribed limits for light heights, including the ADR prescribed legal maximum height for headlights effectively limits any adverse reduction in vision of pedestrians and cyclists close to the vehicle while improving vision of people and objects further away.

For vehicles 1994 and newer, ADR 8/01 also prescribes a Primary Vision Area, and legal raising of such vehicles is limited by the ability to maintain compliance with that requirement.

An ADR compliant headlight installed at a height within the prescribed limits of the ADRs and adjusted in accordance with those rules is legal in NSW according to the Road Transport (Vehicle Registration) Regulation 2007.

Again, the minister appears to be confusing illegally modified vehicles with legally modified vehicles.

If the minister is genuinely concerned about vehicle lights startling other drivers, it would be far more productive for him to act upon the continued widespread illegal use of front and rear fog lights and the failure of the checking of headlight aim during registration inspections. It is over a decade since an RTA IVR told my then employer to "at least wipe the dust off the top" of his headlight aim testing machine "so that it looks like it has been used". Judging by the number of vehicles driving around with obviously misaimed headlights today, this problem appears to remain widespread.


"Mr Daley said any vehicle being raised or lowered would require certification stating the modifications conform to safety standard requirements."

This proposal means that many vehicles that presently wouldn't require certification will require certification in the future. Leaving aside the issue of how it is determined whether a vehicle was raised before or after the implementation of these new rules, there are the connected issues of the fact that many new vehicles are raised within this range by rural new vehicle dealers before delivery, and the availability and distribution of engineering signatories across the state. Quite simply, the economic implications of requiring certification of these vehicles are staggering and the limited availability of signatory engineers makes it virtually impossible to implement.


"The changes also mean any modifications must meet specific requirements such as the vehicle having at least 10 centimetres ground clearance."

This is a misrepresentation of the current situation. Regardless of whether a vehicle is certified or not, the 10cm minimum ground clearance requirement is already an enforceable requirement within Schedule 2 of the Road Transport (Vehicle Registration) Regulation 2007. It is not a new requirement. I also understand that regulations governing licensed vehicle repairers makes it an offence for them to modify a registrable vehicle such that it does not comply with the ADRs or state regulations. Again, the minister appears unfamiliar with the existing legislation and appears to be confusing illegally modified vehicles with legally modified vehicles.


"Vehicles raised above the 5 centimetre limit will only be granted conditional registration for use under specified conditions like competing in an off road competition."

This assumes that vehicles raised by more than 5cm are not "daily use" vehicles. That is an assumption that many people in rural NSW would dispute. During the debate about banning bullbars in urban areas a few years ago, one farmer who had to travel to Sydney on a regular basis to take his then pregnant wife to see a specialist asked whether this would mean that he would have to unbolt the bullbar from his vehicle and chain it to a post on the side of the Great Western Highway on every trip. Conditional registration that limits the use of raised vehicles in the city, as Mr Daley's policy advisor has apparently stated as being part of the intent, would seem to imply that rural people would have to change their suspension during each trip. An obviously absurd and impossible proposition.

This also assumes that the vehicle owner is rich enough to pay to buy an additional vehicle and pay for registration and insurance on an additional vehicle. So much for the Aussie Battler.

I note that the method of implementation of this announcement is by way of a policy document issued by the RTA, and not by legislation. It is extremely worrying that the rule has not been the subject of parliamentary scrutiny and has not apparently been the subject of any consultation with any affected groups outside the RTA.

I call upon the minister to immediately order that Vehicle Inspectors Bulletin 50 be rescinded, and given that the minister appears to have displayed gross incompetence and appears to have lost the confidence of a significant portion of the voting population of NSW, I call upon the minister to resign.

Posted by Athol Mullen at 3:43 PM

[calais]

^ Factual and very well done engineer written rebuttal. Take that Daley.

[Nikked]

Wait, that media did a positive story on car enthusists?