Pursuant to sections 152, 153, and 157 of the Land Transport Act 1998, and having had regard to the criteria specified in section 164(2) of that Act, the Associate Minister of Transport makes the following ordinary rule.

Rule

1 Title

This rule is the Land Transport (Road User) Amendment Rule 2014.

2 Commencement

This rule comes into force on 1 November 2014.

3 Principal rule

This rule amends the Land Transport (Road User) Rule 2004 (the principal rule).

4 Objective

A statement of the objective of this rule is set out in Schedule 1.

5 Consultation

A statement of the extent of the consultation carried out in relation to this rule under section 161(2) of the Land Transport Act 1998 is set out in Schedule 2.

6 Clause 1.6 amended (Interpretation)

In clause 1.6, definition of bus lane, paragraph (b), after “excluded by the” insert “marking or”.

7 Clause 2.3 amended (Use of lanes)

In clause 2.3(1)(a), replace “signal” with “sign”.

8 Clause 2.5 amended (Changing direction)

In clause 2.5(3), delete “turning right from the centre of the road”.

cl 4

The objective of this rule is to amend the principal rule to make it clear that—

either a marking or a sign may be used to exclude cycles from a special vehicle lane:
the red diagonal cross that may be used to exclude vehicles from a particular lane is a traffic “sign”, rather than a traffic “signal”:
a driver who has moved to the left of the road for safety before turning right must wait until the road is clear of all traffic, not just traffic turning right from the centre of the road.

cl 5

For the purposes of consultation, amendments proposed to the Land Transport (Road User) Rule 2004 (the principal rule) and 10 other Land Transport Rules were combined into a single rule, Land Transport Rule: Omnibus Amendment 2014 (the Omnibus Amendment Rule). Following consultation, the provisions in the Omnibus Amendment Rule were split into 10 separate amendment rules, including this rule. The 11th proposed rule, an amendment to the Land Transport (Driver Licensing) Rule 1999, is proceeding separately.

The New Zealand Transport Agency (the Agency) sent details of the amendment proposals by letter or email to approximately 2 400 groups and individuals who had registered an interest in the rules to be amended. The Omnibus Amendment Rule was made available through the Agency's contact centre and, together with questions and answers, was also made available on the Agency's Internet site. The availability of the amendment proposals for comment was publicised in the daily newspapers in Auckland, Hamilton, Wellington, Christchurch, and Dunedin and in the Gazette.

The Agency received 25 submissions on the Omnibus Amendment Rule, of which 4 commented on the proposed amendments to the principal rule.

The submissions received were taken into account in finalising this amendment rule before it was submitted to the Associate Minister of Transport for signing.

Dated at Wellington this 12th day of August 2014.

Michael Woodhouse,
Associate Minister of Transport.

Explanatory note

This note is not part of the rule, but is intended to indicate its general effect.

This rule, which comes into force on 1 November 2014, amends the Land Transport (Road User) Rule 2004 (the principal rule) to—

clarify that either signs or markings may be used to exclude cycles, mopeds, and motorcycles from bus lanes:
specify that the traffic control device by which lanes may be declared unavailable is an overhead sign (not an overhead signal):
clarify that when a driver has pulled to the left of the roadway before commencing a right-hand turn, the driver must wait until the road is clear of all traffic before proceeding (not just traffic turning right from the centre of the road).

Issued under the authority of the Legislation Act 2012.

Date of notification in Gazette: 21 August 2014.

This rule is administered by the Ministry of Transport.

Land Transport (Road User) Amendment Rule 2014