Pursuant to Regulation 49 of the Traffic Regulations 1976, and by way of a delegation from the Director of Land Transport Safety dated 3 May 1999, I, Donald Norman Hutchinson, Senior Engineer, Safer Roads, hereby approve the operation of stinger steer vehicles as defined in the First Schedule of this notice contrary to the provisions of Regulations 48B (1) (j) (ii), 48B (1) (j) (iii) and 48B (1) (t) but subject to compliance with the conditions set out in the Second Schedule.
This notice comes into force on the date of its publication in the New Zealand Gazette.
First Schedule
Definition
For the purposes of this notice, a stinger steer vehicle is a vehicle combination comprising a towing vehicle and one semi-trailer or one simple trailer where the coupling point is more than 0.3 metres behind the rearmost axle of the towing vehicle, but excludes an articulated bus.
Second Schedule
Operating Conditions
1. The overall length must not exceed 20.0 metres.
2. The point of attachment of the trailer must not be further rearward from the rear axis of the towing vehicle than a measurement which is not more than 50 percent of the distance between the foremost axle to the rear axis of the towing vehicle.
3. The weight on the front axle set or twin steer set of the towing vehicle must at all times be at least 20 percent of the sum of the axle weights of the towing vehicle.
4. The weight on the trailer axle set must not at any time exceed 1.5 times the sum of the axle weights of the towing vehicle.
5. The gross weight of the entire vehicle combination must not exceed 32,000 kilograms.
Signed at Wellington this 17th day of November 2000.
D. N. HUTCHINSON, Senior Engineer, Safer Roads.
(RT 21/4)
Explanatory Note:
This notice allows stinger steer vehicles to have an overall length of 20 metres and to not be restricted to carrying light motor vehicles. Note that an operator who breaches any of the conditions in the Second Schedule loses entitlement to the 20.0 metre length exemption. Consequently, a police officer may remove the vehicle from service until it does comply with the conditions in the Second Schedule and may issue an offence notice for exceeding Traffic Regulations 48B (1) (j) (ii) or 48B (1) (j) (iii).