australia

NSW the nanny state

Submitted by brett on 17 July, 2009 - 23:40
Quite often there are times when a goverment's actiond cannot be explained except with a we need to look like we're doing something. The new law "
Approval from RTA needed to raise or lower car suspension" being introduced from August 1, 2009 is just that.

In an article that I came across: http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,25197,25790506-26103,00.html NSW Roads Minister Michael Daley says "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."

Fine, but under this law "car owners will be limited to raising or lowering their suspension by no more than five centimetres, and all modifications will need approval from Roads and Traffic Authority engineers."

To me and many others this is just ridiculous, let's look at a couple of examples:

  • What about cars with airbag or similar suspension? Will jumping in your VW Tourag and setting it to off-road mean you're breaking the law?
  • How does raising your car make you a hoon?
  • Why should one require approval when most manufacturers provide factorylowered springs?
  • What about cars that have been lowered/raised prior to 1/8/09?

Such a law is just laughable, sure I agree that lowering a car too much can cause problems. But this is usually a case of owners cutting their springs which is illegal regardless. So while NSW's neighbour Victoria doesn't even require road-worthy certificates, NSW is going the way of the UK - Nanny state!

Oh I can't wait to see what else changes before I decide to return!