Australia's leading 4WD magazine, 4 Wheel Drive Action, have published the following article about proposed new laws in NSW that will effect all owners of modified 4 Wheel Drive Vehicles in Australia. Once one state goes down this path the others will follow. Please pass this message on to all your 4WD freinds as a matter of urgency.
"Australian 4WDers,
We are contacting you today as a matter of urgency, this one is extremely important and will ultimately affect every single 4WDer in Australia.
VSI50 anti-modification laws are back on the RTA’s agenda in NSW. You’ll no doubt remember when the previous version of this document surfaced – known as the ‘hoon laws’. It unfairly and drastically limited the types of suspension and tyre modifications we could make back then, and it’s even worse now.
Make no mistakes about it – this document threatens 4WDing as we know it. This isn’t sensationalism, this is pure fact.
There are two areas where the revised VSI50 severely impacts on every single 4WDer’s ability to modify their vehicle.
The biggest issue is that of vehicle ride height. Under VSI50, vehicles with a combined ride height more than 75mm above standard will only be eligible for ‘conditional registration’. The document isn’t clear on what this means, but you can be certain conditional registration will force you to justify why you ‘need’ to be driving your 4WD every single time you get behind the wheel. There is a way around this – VSI50 states that if you are a member of an affiliated 4WD club, and have completed a driver training course, then you’ll be allowed full registration.
I thought compulsory unionism was dead in Australia. I thought this was a free country.
What we’re witnessing is un-reasonable and un-Australian.
VSI50 forces you to pay membership fees and join a 4WD club, simply so you can have full registration on your sensibly modified 4WD. What if you don’t want to be a member of a club? What if you can’t find a club to join? What if you’re stretched enough as it is and don’t want to pay anymore bills?
If VSI50 becomes official legislation, 4WD NSW & ACT will have ultimate say over when and where you can drive your 4WD!
The second issue of concern with the revised VSI50 document, is a blanket ban of all tyre diameter increases of more than 50mm. That means than generally speaking, anything larger than a 31in tyre on a dual-cab ute, or a 33in tyre on a full-sized wagon, will be absolutely illegal.
There’ll be no option to ever have a bigger set of tyres put through engineering tests to be deemed safe. VSB14, which is the guideline document VSI50 has been created from talks about a maximum headlight lift of 150mm over standard. We believe that’s fair – what we don’t support is the fact that the proposed VSI50 plan limits the way in which you’re allowed to achieve that 6in headlight height raise. Sure, a lot of us will be happy with a vehicle running a 2in lift and 2in over standard diameter tyres, but what if you did want to take it to the next level and run 35in tyres?
If you wanted to spend the time and money on brake and suspension upgrades to ensure your 4WD could run 35in tyre safely - why should you be denied that?
So what can you do to stop this?
We are going to need as many numbers as we can to fight this battle against the RTA. Even if you don’t live in NSW you still have to get behind this and stop these ridiculous rules come into play. Because guaranteed these rules and restrictions that severely limit how we can modify our 4WDs will filter into every state and territory.
We need to be able to communicate with and rally every 4WDer in Australia to fight this battle to protect our rights.
Please pass this message on to as many people as you can"
PDF of Proposal
HERECheck out the full story at 4WD Action Magazine
HERE
