On June 27th 2024 LVVTA celebrated a significant milestone – the 200,000th LVV certification issued.
The occasion was marked with a get-together of familiar faces at LVVTA’s office in Porirua, including past and present LVVTA staff members, founding and long-term LVV Certifiers, former and current NZTA staff members, and past and present LVVTA Board Members.
There were also friends and representatives from the wider car community and automotive industry who have been influential in the development of LVVTA and the LVV certification system over the past 35 years.
The evening function was led by new LVVTA CEO Ken McAdam, who has been involved with LVVTA in various roles for over 20 years, and has seen, been part of, and made happen, a lot of the change and growth that’s happened in that time.
The proceedings included recognition of Steve Keys’ contribution to LVVTA over the various managerial and oversight roles he has fulfilled within his 28-year involvement including many years as LVVTA’s President, and a commemoration of the late Graeme Banks’ work on both the Board and Management Committee.
Graeme’s family were present at the function to hear the tribute to Graeme and receive his posthumous recognition. The evening also recognised Tony Johnson’s decision to pass over his long-held CEO role (a 21-year tenure from 2003 to 2023) to Ken in December last year, enabling Tony to fully focus on the document and system development role.
The 200,000th vehicle to be LVV certified was a Mercedes Sprinter van, modified to enable a person with disabilities to self- drive. The Sprinter featured extensive modifications including a rear-mounted hydraulic wheelchair ramp, power-operated rear barn doors, multiple wheelchair restraint positions and removable seating incorporated into floor mounted tracking, a lowered front floor, docking station, and adaptive hand controls. The sum of the modifications has created a full ‘self-drive’ vehicle, enabling a wheelchair user to enter the vehicle, lock their chair into position, and drive from their wheelchair, all unassisted.
The van was modified by Cartertonbased disability vehicle specialist Braiden International Ltd, and LVV certified by Julian Cheer – himself a founding LVV Certifier who is still active in the LVV system today.
It took 12 years to reach 50,000 LVV certifications, a further six years to reach 100,000, and then 14 years to double that number. Overall, there’s been a rough average of 50,000 LVV certifications every seven years, so based on those numbers, we should be knocking on the door of a quarter of a million LVV certifications by the end of this decade!
These numbers were never envisioned back in 1989 when Tony Johnson began talking to some car club members and the Ministry of Transport about the idea of a ‘self-governance’ system for a few enthusiast vehicles!
