Putting the boot in an ‘unusual’ response from driving test officer

A Blockhouse Bay resident is less than impressed after a Westgate AA driving tester kicked the bumper off the car he was sitting his test in.

Trent Annan was halfway through his practical test when the testing officer got out to investigate a small scraping sound coming from the front of the car.

“Like I told him, the mud guard on the front left tyre was causing it. It was not a major thing,” he said.

“But for some reason he saw fit to go around and actually kick the car on both sides, causing the entire bumper to fall off.”

The testing officer then failed Annan, saying the vehicle was unsafe.

“I thought that was rich, seeing as he caused the damage. If the bumper had come off of its own accord, then that would be a different story.”

AA spokesman Mike Noon said the tester’s action was “pretty unusual”.

“It’s not one I’d recommend people to do,” he said.

Matthew Lambert, who owns the car and had lent it to Annan for his driving test, said the officer was out of line.

“I was pretty angry. We had to spend that afternoon fixing it when I could have been doing something else.”

He said although his car is not new, it is registered and warranted and he had previously sat his own driving test in it.

Land Transport New Zealand media manager Andy Knackstedt said testing officers have a duty to stop a test if they think the car is in an unsafe condition.

Testing officers operate from AA branches, but are agents of Land Transport New Zealand.

“Obviously if the applicant feels they were treated unfairly there is a complaint process,” Knackstedt said.

However, Annan said Westgate AA made it difficult to lodge a formal complaint.

He said staff gave him a form to fill out but then refused to send it to the specified LTNZ head office.

“It was ridiculous that we had to find somewhere else to fax the form from, at our own time and expense.”

Knackstedt said he was not sure why staff might have refused to fax the completed complaint form.

Annan is waiting to hear the outcome of the LTNZ’s inquiry.