Sting Results in A Dozen Heavy Vehicle Charges
Source: Fullyloaded.com.au
A Carrington RMS operation resulted in 10 drivers being charged with heavy vehicle offences.
The operation conducted by police and RMS (Roads and Maritime Services) earlier this year led to almost a dozen oversize and overmass trucks being charged.
The Joint Traffic Taskforce sting took place in Carrington in March this year.
According to police, trucks were loaded and ready to move large equipment and machinery and a number of them were not compliant in their width, length and height.
Following the sting operation, RMS officers continued assessing weight issues involving the loads.
In an article on Abc.net.au traffic and highway patrol commander John Hartley was quoted explaining the importance of operators and truck drivers complying with permit obligations. Mr Hartley explained:
“Those that go outside set permits create risks for the roads that are used and, most importantly, for other motorists,” he said.
“Operators need to understand that permits must be fully complied with when loading and moving oversize and overmass loads.
After this operation authorities vowed that the Joint Traffic Taskforce would continue its focus on road safety to benefit road users driving down the road toll across New South Wales.
In October the the Joint Traffic Taskforce took to the roads again this time in a sting operation called Operation Hydra.
During the sting 504 trucks, trailers and other vehicles were inspected, with 126 defects detected. NSW Police said on their website,
Officers issued 126 defects for brakes, body and chassis, wheels and tyre issues.
A further seven weight/mass breaches and six directions to secure loads were issued.
In total, 217 drug tests were conducted, resulting in six positive results for methylaphetamine.
Source: http://www.police.nsw.gov.au
The operation also included compliance inspections at 2 distribution centres at Smeaton Grange and Eastern Creek in western Sydney, the police said.
Assistant Commissioner John Hartley, Traffic and Highway Patrol Commander explained that regular heavy vehicle compliance operations are necessary to ensure the safety of all road users, especially given the number of incidents including heavy vehicle crashes, fires and other non-compliance issues we’ve encountered recently.
Mr Hartley explained:
“To see loads unsecured, defective vehicles, and drivers testing positive to drugs certainly highlights the need to conduct these joint operations in order to reduce serious injury and fatal crashes on our roads,” Assistance Commissioner Hartley said.
“Like all road safety operations, police and RMS will focus on safety and compliance in order to change driver, owner, operator, loader, and customer behaviour.
“Operation Hydra is about preventing serious injury and fatal crashes resulting from poorly maintained and loaded trucks, in some cases operated by drivers who have used drugs, or are fatigued,” he said.
Source: http://www.police.nsw.gov.au
