New tough Victorian roadworthy rules

[Tony Wheeler]

Originally Posted by Mike Kelly

The next thing will be . The CH club rego system will now come under huge pressure as you dont need a formal roadworthy at the moment in order to get your vehicle on the road

Let's hope not Mike! Personally I don't think so somehow. There's no doubt governments want to get old cars off the road (eg. Cash for Clunkers) but it would be virtually impossible for them to implement a RWC regime for vintage cars, which by definition cannot be made roadworthy to modern standards.

Also I think there's a general recognition, even amongst bureaucrats, that vintage/veteran/historic vehicles are in a different category from old unroadworthy cars, which they consider to be a danger on the road. In terms of road toll contribution, I suspect club permit vehicles would be virtually zero.

Then there's the economic/social/cultural/tourism contribution these vehicles make, which the bureaucrats would find hard to ignore. For example, they'd face considerable backlash if they tried to put vehicles off the road which participate in Anzac day parades all around Australia.

In my observation governments generally try to soften up the public before they pass draconian laws. They've managed to demonize old unroadworthy cars, but I reckon they'd struggle to demonize vintage cars. If anything they seem to have liberalized the club permit system in Vic recently, ie. "Under the new conditions of use, permit holders are no longer restricted to club sanctioned activities when using their vehicles."

I suspect their main concern is to cover their own arses, eg. "Clubs are required to sign an agreement with VicRoads that they meet certain obligations..."

Mind you, it would only take a few nasty accidents to whip up a media storm and put the heat on club permits.