I know you all love paying ACC levies....

[Dragger_Dan]

http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/2560927/ACC-to-sting-old-car-owners

... so here, enjoy paying some more. What the hell is wrong with the ivory tower inhabitants, they want us buying new cars in the middle of a recession?

How about encouraging people to maintain their cars properly therefore stimulating the economy of the NZ motoring industry.

How about instead of overproduced graphic television ads that most people try to block out, put some 5 or 10 second spots on telling people to put their lights on on the open road, or wear their seatbelt or something. I would love to see how much ACC spends on ad campagins vs actually fixing broken people.

[B1NZ]

Try educating drivers and have a decent licence test for starters.

Maybe retests for useless drivers

[Bling]

Well thats f**king rude!!

What a dumb idea..... wow it gets better too below. We really are run by a load of muppets. AS the article says, what about all the poor people that can't afford safe cars.... The reason there would be 40% less crashes is that 40% less people could actually afford to have a car on the road

He said the simplest way to ensure that poor people drove safer cars was to ensure that government departments bought the safest cars in their class.
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"That way, in five or 10 years time when these same cars are bought by poor people, the poor people will be driving safer vehicles."

[Dragger_Dan]

Safer cars don't make safer drivers

[DeeCee]

why are poor people driving cars? aren't they poor ergo, they can't afford to run a car?

[spoonza6]

give an idiot a 5 star safe car and he will total the same as he would a 1 star safe car

as you people have said, its not the cars its the drivers
and in this case its not the country its the politicians

[MAD FX]

Its getting away from the whole point of ACC, by the same token why don't rugby players pay more than people who don't, etc etc where would you stop?

[Dragger_Dan]

I'd love to see a crash test with two 5 star rated cars, head on at 100 km/h. Head on collisions on the main road seem to be a huge killer in this country, but I still wouldn't trust a Fiat 500 or a Hyundai i30 in that situation.

Its getting away from the whole point of ACC, by the same token why don't rugby players pay more than people who don't, etc etc where would you stop?

ACC levies on new and second quadbike sales, and ACC levies on alcohol. That's something I'd support.

Wouldn't it make more sense to charge ACC on your drivers licence, perhaps scale it up for more demerit points?

[flygt4]

Its getting away from the whole point of ACC, by the same token why don't rugby players pay more than people who don't, etc etc where would you stop?

big talking point round the work smoko table lately, something i fully believe in. user pays medical system. target the proportion of taxes/levies to the amount that particular activity costs in accidents. and that would be inclusive on everything you do that makes up a significant portion of injuries.
i would be happy to pay a little extra when purchasing a motorcross bike/jet ski etc etc or playing a particular sport knowing that if i got hurt riding or playing I would be covered. that way the people that are involved in high risk activities pay more for the privelege of being an idiot.

[rolla_fxgt]

I think it will be more on crash history & driving offences than your choice of car personally. Because that's what more politically palatable.

its also one of the options put up for consideration I believe

[Mad Murphy]

I was reading something in Classic Car about ACC levies, apparently our top 10 sports (doesn't say what they are though, I'm sure Google could) account for $69 million a year in ACC compo. If you want to play a high risk sport then you should have to pay either an ACC levy or private health insurance that covers it. I'm sick of motorists having to bite the bullet every time the government needs a bit more cash. I guess its pretty easy to not worry about ACC levies on rego when you're driven round all day in a Crown limo. I'm also annoyed that they imply that only poor people drive old cars, there's plenty of people who drive older cars because they like to, they don't see the need to upgrade or don't place any importance on having a flash car.

[Adoom]

give an idiot a 5 star safe car and he will total the same as he would a 1 star safe car

as you people have said, its not the cars its the drivers
and in this case its not the country its the politicians

Yep, cars are crashing because loads of people can't drive. So to solve the problem they don't try and improve the quality of the driver. They just make the driver get less $&#$% up when he crashes.

Hands up, who is going to sell their $1500 no star corolla then go out and buy a $29000 5 star car to save $118 on ACC a year?!?!?! Kinda doesn't make sense. Sooooooo $29000 buys you about 90 YEARS worth of inflated rego costs on your $1500 rolla............

Buying a $29000 5 star car is going to 'save' me money, because the rego is cheaper??

[fangsport]

Its getting away from the whole point of ACC, by the same token why don't rugby players pay more than people who don't, etc etc where would you stop?

don't get me started on rugby injuries.

i destroyed both AC ligaments within 2 weeks of each other, and was told by A&E that i should have lied on the claim form and stated it was a rugby injury and not work related as ACC PAY the $10K for reconstructive surgery for rugby injuries. i was advised by a specialist that i needed 6 months off work as i was self-employedand ACC wouldn't pay me 80% of the $1600/week i was contracting out, i was given the generous option of $108/week on sickness and was basically bankrupted due to them. they still had the audacity to demand $7k in levies even though i couldn't earn money.


they want to stop paying sofa-loafers ACC for non-work injuries, and scumbags who injure themselves while committing crime.

[xsspeed]

Sounds like you were hard done by mate

I play rugby and it hasnt been until this year that I have had serious injuries. dislocated collarbone and a dislocated shoulder.
Painful yes but its my choice of sport and I do reasonably well at it. (capt of auckland 2nd xv) so I keep playing it. May even make a living out of it soon.

I have been getting free physio and treatment and it is great, however I wouldnt mind having to pay for it. Especially after some of the things that I have seen people get ACC treatment for - not necessarily sports related.

The system is flawed in that it was introduced without thinking things through, and has been taken advantage of by some people.

The thing thats really gets me about ACC though is that so many things they just approve, but then in some cases when someone is really battling they shut up shop and refuse to help.

Anyway, I can't see this scheme of taxing older/less rated cars flying very far, however I do agree with the nats shakeup of ACC, and do agree with user pays, perhaps with a subsidy form the govt rather than full cover.

[MAGN1T]

It's got nothing to do with cars, it's because ACC is in the shyte and they need to take in more money.
Most people have no idea what sort of a micky mouse outfit ACC is....I won't go into detail much but as a ummm victim of theirs.....they'll pay for an operation, the surgeons are on the payroll, they assure everyone they can fix you (even though they can't) and then you can go back to work, then the physios take over and cream it too (forgot about ACC paying for gymn membership too), then without even a follow up appointment you get cut off the payroll even though you're not fixed......have to go onto a sickness benefit.
When you sign onto ACC , you're assured that you're treated as an individual but they bombard you with statistics to say that on average you should be back at work in X weeks....... as for the case managers.... they probably only work there because nobody else will give them a job.
Once they cut you off there's these lawyers who specialise in ACC, you need one to get an independant review...have to apply for legal aid . What a joke. I think the lawyers are also on the ACC payroll.

Steve

[xsspeed]

agree with you to a certain extent

case and point, mate fell off his mountain bike, shattered his shoulder.
no worries surgery paid for etc rehab, then back at work.
During rehab they realise that the surgery was botched and he can't extend his arm above his head.
Recommended more surgery, then they realise they can't make it any better.
More rehab, now he can't even change a lightbulb.

He's a GC though, too proud to claim a disability lump some from ACC cos he doesnt want to be a bludger.

[MercuryFree]

However, financial incentives based on car safety ratings could be difficult to implement as New Zealand had a relatively old fleet and many people could not easily upgrade, he said.

This coming from the ACC minister, and the fact that this is an article about "some proposals" that will be "put forward" for a "review" of ACC = Media DRAMALLAMA

[rolla_fxgt]

$&#$% don't get me started about ACC $&#$%. I spent 9 months off work waiting for ACC to approve my surgery to remove loose bits of bone from my elbow and give me every excuse under the sun (including more than a few outright lies). Got it done in the end cost ACC about 6 or 7 times what it would of if they done their job properly in the first place. I was only off work for 2 weeks after surgery and took 4 weeks after approval to have the surgery.
Case managers as a rule are muppets who wouldn't be able to get any other job, and are on bonuses for how little they pay out, and how quick they get people back to work (whether they're actually fixed or not).
One of my HR guys at work actually suggested getting really tanked one night & finding someone to break it for me, to force ACC to pay for it quicker. Told me it was standard ACC practice to drag it out if they could.

I complained to the minister of ACC, got an official apology, and everything happened really quickly after that, with the local ACC boss chasing the case manager up daily (made for one really annoyed case manager )

[fangsport]

how many people here, actually got a pay cut with the tax cut??? i'm about $0.50 a week better off since the tax cut, as they used it to sweeten up the fact they were putting the earner premiums up.. thank god i am on wages now instead of self-employment.

off-sider at work is about $5 worse off!!

[Bling]

I Think I got $10/week.... well I mean I put an extra $10 a week on the student loan, so not better off really, but thats by choice I guess.

Fangsport thats a 50c mixture a week you couldn't afford before, so sounds like you're doing well