Moorabool and Ballarat Highway Patrol have been working alongside members from the National Heavy Vehicle Regulator, to address heavy vehicle safety and compliance during a recent operation at the Bungaree weighbridge.
The operation ran on 29 September and comes following a spate of heavy vehicle collisions in the states west. It aimed to ensure industry compliance, as well as educate drivers on the risks to other road users by failing to comply with heavy vehicle regulations.
Police undertook checks on heavy vehicles to ensure they were complying with laws around appropriate loading and mass, roadworthiness, work diary compliance, fatigue and drug driving.
Overall officers were pleased with the level of compliance and found that none of the 16 drivers checked tested positive to drink or drug driving.
However, police were disappointed to see that many of the trucks failed to comply with other industry regulations and issued a number of infringements including:
• 5 mass offences
• 1 dimension offence
• 1 defect notice
• 3 log book related infringements
Moorabool Highway Patrol Leading Senior Constable David Tranter said that while police were overall pleased with driver behaviour, there are still some simple changes that can be made to ensure everyone stays safe on the road.
"It's the responsibility of companies and their drivers to ensure that they are compliant with National Heavy Vehicle Law," LSC Tranter said.
"Loading trucks correctly and ensuring that work diaries are maintained helps keep everyone safe.
"We were pleased to see that majority of heavy vehicle drivers were doing the right thing and were not behind the wheel under the influence of drugs or alcohol.
"That said, it's important to remember that being fatigued can be just as dangerous as drink or drug driving, a tired driver can be a lethal driver."
The operation is expected to continue over the coming weeks across the Moorabool and Ballarat regions.
