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www.nzta.govt.nz
Did you know?
Fatigue can kill you. Between 2000 and 2002, driver fatigue was identified as a contributing factor in 132 fatal crashes and 1,486 injury crashes (approximately 12 percent of fatal crashes and six percent of injury crashes each year).
Fascinating facts
General
| 1896 | First motor vehicle built in New Zealand by Cecil Woods of Timaru |
| 1898 | William McLean, Member of Parliament, imported two Benz cars |
| 1899 | First petrol driven bus imported into New Zealand |
Greymouth to Kororo bus - an early petrol driven bus (1911) |
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| 1900 | First electric tram imported into New Zealand |
 Tram at Castlecliff, Wanganui - an early electric tram (1913) |
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| 1905 | First journey by car from Wellington to Auckland, by two men taking 7 days |
 First motor trip between Auckland and Wellington (1905) |
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| 1930 | Trolley bus services started in Christchurch |
| 1934 | First national traffic census |
| 1936 | National Road Safety Council established |
| 1954 | Road Safety Magazine began publication |
| 1955 | Safe Driving Award Scheme begun |
| 1959 | Auckland Harbour Bridge opened May 30th |
| 1961 | New Zealand represented at International Road Safety Congress at Nice, France |
| 1965 | National Traffic Offence Bureau established at Christchurch |
| 1969 | Instant parking fines introduced |
| 1972 | Metrics introduced into transport |
| 1978 | Road User Charges Act (enforced by Ministry of Transport) introduced |
| 1979 | Introduction of car-less days for fuel conservation |
| Halting of weekend petrol sales | |
| 1981 | Registered owners became liable for parking offences involving their vehicles |
| 1988 | Community sentences introduced |
| 1991 | Emergency mobile phone service -555 introduced |
| 1992 | New MVR (Motor Vehicle Registration) system implemented |
| New Road User Charges systems | |
| 1995 | Trams reintroduced to Christchurch City |
 Trams in Cathedral Square, Christchurch (1900) |
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Last updated: 29 August 2001