Contents

Objective of the Rule

Extent of consultation

Section 1     Application

• 1.1     Title
• 1.2     Date when Rule comes into force

Section 2     Amendments to Rule requirements

• 2.1     Dimension requirements for vehicles and vehicle combinations

Section 3     Amendments to definitions

• 3.1     Definition of ‘caravan trailer’

Objective of the Rule

Land Transport Rule: Vehicle Dimensions and Mass Amendment 2009 amends Land Transport Rule: Vehicle Dimensions and Mass 2002, which specifies requirements for dimension and mass limits for vehicles operating on New Zealand roads.

The objectives of this amendment to Land Transport Rule: Vehicle Dimensions and Mass 2002 are:

• •   to allow Class TC caravan trailers that are semi-trailers with a gross vehicle mass of 10 tonnes or less to have a rear overhang up to 65% or 4 m, whichever is less; and
• •   to define ‘caravan trailer’.

Extent of consultation

For the purposes of consultation, amendments proposed to Land Transport Rule: Vehicle Dimensions and Mass 2002 and eleven other Land Transport Rules were combined into a single draft Rule, Land Transport Rule: Omnibus Amendment 2008 (the Omnibus Amendment Rule).

On 19 August 2008, the NZ Transport Agency (NZTA) sent details of the amendment proposals by letter or email to approximately 1500 groups and individuals who had registered an interest in the Rules to be amended. The draft Omnibus Amendment Rule was made available through the NZTA Contact Centre and, together with Questions and Answers, was also available on the NZTA website. The availability of the draft for comment was publicised in the metropolitan daily newspapers in Auckland, Hamilton, Wellington, Christchurch and Dunedin and in the New Zealand Gazette. The NZTA received 24 submissions on the draft Omnibus Amendment Rule, of which 11 commented on the proposed requirements in this Rule.

Following consultation, the provisions in the draft Omnibus Amendment Rule were split into 12 separate amendment Rules, including this Rule. The submissions that were received were taken into account in drafting this amendment Rule before it was submitted to the Minister of Transport for signing.

Section 1     Application

1.1     Title

1.1(1)     This Rule is Land Transport Rule: Vehicle Dimensions and Mass Amendment 2009.

1.1(2)     This Rule amends Land Transport Rule: Vehicle Dimensions and Mass 2002.

1.2     Date when Rule comes into force

This Rule comes into force on 7 May 2009.

Section 2     Amendments to Rule requirements

2.1     Dimension requirements for vehicles and vehicle combinations

Table 4.1 is amended by substituting the following for the row relating to “rear overhang”:

Rear overhang
Heavy rigid vehicle	4.0 or 70% of wheelbase (whichever is less) for a vehicle whose rearmost axle is a non-steering axle 4.25 or 70% of wheelbase (whichever is less) for a vehicle whose rearmost axle is a steering axle
Articulated bus, heavy semi-trailer (other than a Class TC caravan trailer), heavy simple trailer, heavy pole trailer with one axle set	4.0 or 50% of forward distance (whichever is less)
Heavy full trailer, heavy pole trailer with two axle sets	4.0 or 50% of wheelbase (whichever is less)
Class TC caravan trailer that is a semi-trailer	4.0 or 65% of forward distance (whichever is less)
All other vehicles	4.0

Section 3     Amendments to definitions

3.1     Definition of ‘caravan trailer’

Part 2 is amended by inserting the following definition in the appropriate place:

• “Caravan trailer means a trailer that is permanently equipped with features intended to make the vehicle suitable as a person's dwelling place, and must include at least one sleeping berth and one table, both of which may be of a design that allows them to be retracted or folded away.”