Carless days

The 1979 revolutionaries who over threw the Shah of Iran also nationalised the country’s oil wells evicting the foreigners operating them and so disrupting the oil exports. As a major producer this resulted world oil prices quickly escalating to eventually double. With New Zealand’s balance of payments already in a precarious shape Prime Minister Muldoon hastened to pass a number of edicts to reduce the use of oil imports.

The principal one was that every motorist must nominate a day on which their car would not be used. Brightly coloured stickers with the chosen day were issued to be affixed to the windscreen.

Other restrictions included reducing the speed limit to 80 kph and petrol stations opening hours curtailed including being closed all day on Sundays. A sales tax of 33% was slapped on caravans and 20% on boats which saved a small amount of fuel but killed off two thriving New Zealand industries  

There were exceptions, rural dwellers were exempt as were doctors. If a  reason good enough to convince some  faceless bureaucrat could be produced an exemption would be given. 

‘Carless days‘, as the rules were designated, were deeply unpopular and numerous ways of circumventing them were hatched. Well off people simply purchased a second car. Cheap old clapped out cars suddenly became in demand as alternate day transport. it was possible to apply for an ‘X sticker’ exemption if the vehicle was needed for urgent business. A black market in exemption stickers also emerged, as did forgeries, making enforcement difficult.

Others registered their designated day twice using different days. The stickers were the  covered in cling wrap to be swapped on the windscreen to show some other day. Some alternatives probably used more petrol, a bus driver used his bus  rather than his small car. Others just tried their luck driving on their designated regardless of the day.

The first person fined was Gordon Marks of Christchurch, who forgot that at 3.45 am after a post-party nap in his car his “car-less day” had started at 2 am. He was fined $50 rather than the $400 maximum fine.

The problem of having the petrol stations closed on Sundays was overcome by carrying some extra fuel. For instance; returning home from holiday pulling a large caravan could not be achieved on one tankful so a jerry can of petrol was carried to be poured into the tank just north of Pahiatua. 

Carless days were deeply unpopular and was basically a failure. It only lasted for one year before being scrapped. However the 80 kph speed limit did save fuel and also reduced accidents continued in place for for several years