The recent police and RMS operation Logan held in NSW included fatigue management inspections. According to the NSW Police Traffic and Highway Patrol, the 3 day joint operation between themselves and The Roads and Maritime Service may have concluded but police will still be taking a firm stance on road safety issues including driver fatigue.
The 2 organisations joined together to form the Joint Heavy Vehicle Taskforce with the aim of ensuring heavy vehicle compliance across the North and North West part of the state in particular.
Police stated on their website that the operation included an inspection on drugs, speeding, load management and fatigue.
Authorities inspected heavy vehicles as well as drivers by issuing random breath and drug tests on heavy vehicle drivers entering and leaving the state. During the operation police issued 1367 random breath tests and 1105 drug tests with 18 drivers tested positive for driving under the influence of a drug.
According to the Acting Assistant Commissioner Stuart Smith the Acting Commander of NSW traffic and highway patrol command, the joint heavy vehicle taskforce comprising of NSW Police Traffic and Highway Patrol and The Roads and Maritime Service is an annual operation which is still delivering “significant road safety benefits” to motorists on the state’s roads.
The following statement was posted on the police website,
“The industry needs to appreciate that we can establish these operations at any time, and given the results we have achieved in the past 3 days, we will continue to do so.“Of most concern for the Joint Heavy Vehicle Taskforce was 34 trucks out of 411 that were closely examined were found to have been tampered to allow speeding over 100kph on our roads, this is totally unacceptable.“Of further concern were 18 drivers out of 1105 testing positive for driving while under the influence of a drug.“To have some drivers affected by drugs, driving defective vehicles with unsecured loads which in one case led to a HAZMAT incident, presents significant road safety risks to NSW motorists.Read more: http://www.police.nsw.gov.au/news/latest_releases?sq_content_src=%2BdXJsPWh0dHBzJTNBJTJGJTJGZWJpenByZC5wb2xpY2UubnN3Lmdvdi5hdSUyRm1lZGlhJTJGMzY4MzUuaHRtbCZhbGw9MQ%3D%3D
There were several drivers caught who were in possession of illicit drugs, also related to fatigue. Instead of engaging in proper fatigue management, drivers resort to drugs to stay awake and alert longer on the road and thereafter use other drugs to bring them down from the high in order to fall asleep at the end of their shifts.
Mr Smith particularly highlighted the issues of fatigue, drug abuse, speeding and load management as problematic on state roads as identified by the operation.
Director of Safety and Compliance Roads and Maritime Service, Peter Wells said that authorities will now analyse their findings from the operation to benefit chain of responsibility prosecutions. He was quoted as saying:
“The critical issue for the industry is safety, and we will work closely with the NSW Police Traffic and Highway Patrol Command to achieve this goal.”“For the few people doing the wrong thing, they must stop or face the consequences – drugs, trucks and speed limiter tampering do not mix”.“These operations are necessary to ensure both the efficiency and safety of the freight industry across NSW.”Read more: http://www.police.nsw.gov.au/news/latest_releases?sq_content_src=%2BdXJsPWh0dHBzJTNBJTJGJTJGZWJpenByZC5wb2xpY2UubnN3Lmdvdi5hdSUyRm1lZGlhJTJGMzY4MzUuaHRtbCZhbGw9MQ%3D%3D
