iBelieve Driving School

16/06/2026

Nice and informative!

If you’re getting ready to travel and your windscreen is foggy, here’s the fastest way to clear it:

• Turn your demister on.
• Turn your air conditioning to full strength at its hottest temperature.
• Turn circulating air off.
• Open the windows by a few centimetres, even if only for 20–30 seconds.

You should turn circulating air off because cold air from outside will clear fog faster than recirculated air in your car, which is already hot and has already absorbed some condensation.

In other words, cold and dry air is better than warm and moist air.

The circulating air symbol looks like a car with a U-shaped arrow in it – turn it off.

Opening the windows just a little will help clear the humid air inside, replacing it with colder air from outside. This speeds up the process a bit but it's a nice-to-have – sometimes it'll be raining, or just really cold outside.

If you’re not sure what your demister looks like, its symbol looks like three arrows pointing up at a curved rectangle. In most modern vehicles this symbol will be on a button you can turn on or off, but in older vehicles it may be a setting you need to select using a dial.

We've all seen people driving around with a foggy windscreen, and with foggy windows too. It's illegal to drive with a foggy windscreen (under section 8.8 of the Land Transport (Road User) Rule), so clear your windscreen and keep it clear as you’re travelling.

When the weather is bad, always check our pages to see if state highways are affected before you travel. Follow us if you aren’t already. You can find more information in this post: https://www.facebook.com/share/p/1HJqwn4Sxa/

08/06/2026

Take extra care always fellow motorists!

04/06/2026

Important Notice! Vehicles parked in mobility parking bays without a valid permit will be strictly penalised. In New Zealand, an infringement fee of $750 applies for this violation. A Mobility Parking Permit issued by CCS Disability Action must be visibly displayed to use these parking spaces.

15/05/2026

Very good reminder! 👍

It's the law: You can't use full beam headlights when you're around other people. Your headlights must be dipped.

That means you should only have your headlights on full beam when you're not around other people and driving on an unlit or poorly-lit road.

To state the obvious, full beam headlights make it hard for other people to see.

Full beam can blind a person driving towards you. When you're following another person, they can be blinded by full beam headlights in their rear-view mirror. That's why you need to have headlights dipped around people.

By contrast, dipped headlights are perfect for virtually all conditions – and with winter around the corner, daylight hours decreasing, and wet weather on its way, you should be using your dipped headlights more proactively.

Conditions can change quickly. Turn your headlights on dipped if it's raining, icy, snowing, or foggy. Many of us have silver, grey, or white vehicles which easily blend into the road, grey sky, and snow. Having your headlights on dipped activates your rear position lights. Together your lights make you much more visible to people behind you and people coming towards you.

When the weather is bad, always check our pages to see if state highways are affected before you travel. Follow us if you aren’t already. You can find more information in this post: https://www.facebook.com/nztransportagency/posts/pfbid0214iPSqhZ5STpDvY1vrDadCwHXhKVSWpRZWBAxcGALDCbQFFDi7gRAqurn3u54Doul

21/04/2026

Another competent driver. Congratulations Daniel on passing your restricted licence test. Enjoy and take extra care always!👏👏

17/04/2026

https://www.facebook.com/share/p/1E6dLe8PMW/?mibextid=wwXIfr

We’re making changes to the warrant of fitness system. On 1 November 2026, these things will change:

• people who buy a new car will need to get their next WoF when the car is 4 years old (it’s currently when the car is 3 years old)
• people with cars between 4–14 years old* will need a WoF every 2 years (it’s currently yearly)
• people with motorcycles registered before 1 January 2000 will need a WoF every year (it’s currently every 6 months).

For a long time we’ve had very frequent vehicle inspections compared to countries overseas. Modern vehicles are significantly safer and more reliable. It’s safer to have less frequent inspections, and this’ll save you time and money.

Cars over 14 years old, and motorcycles registered before 1 January 2000, will move to an annual WoF (up from every 6 months for some vehicles).

If your car has Automatic Emergency Braking or Lane Keep Assist, WoF inspections will now check for warning lights (or malfunction indicators) for these systems.

It’s still your responsibility to maintain your vehicle to the WoF standard between inspections. To reinforce this we’re increasing fines if your vehicle isn’t compliant. From 1 November:

• If you’re driving a vehicle with a WoF that’s expired by more than 2 months, you may be fined $350 (up from $200).
• If you’re driving a vehicle with a wheel or tyre that wouldn’t pass an inspection, you may be fined $350 (up from $150) and up to $1000 (the maximum court-ordered fine).

We’ve made these change following us consulting you for feedback about this towards the end of 2025. Thanks to everyone who shared their feedback with us – we received over 5000 formal submissions, and overall people supported these changes.

Our website has more information about the changes, including a summary and analysis of your feedback to us about these changes: https://www.nzta.govt.nz/changes-to-light-vehicle-inspections

* We’ll be introducing the change for cars between 4–14 years old in phases. From 1 November 2026, cars first registered on or after 1 November 2019 become eligible for WoFs every 2 years. From 1 November 2027, cars first registered from 1 November 2013 to 31 October 2019 become eligible.