One person has been arrested and eight reported for traffic offences in the first week of a police operation focusing on heavy vehicles, according to SA Police.
Operation AUSTRANS, a coordinated operation in South Australia involving police, Department of Planning, Transport and Infrastructure (DPTI), Safework SA and ComCare, is targeting safety compliance in the heavy vehicle industry of vehicles over 4.5 tonnes.
In the week from Sunday, 1 May to Sunday, 8 May police and DPTI inspectors issued 422 cautions, expiations and defects, while a 27-year-old man from Para Hills was arrested for driving unlicensed. He was detected driving a prime mover and semi-trailer combination at Wingfield at 2.40pm on Friday,6 May.
In another case, a 46–year-old man driving a B-Double at Edinburgh at 9.50am on Saturday, 7 May tested positive for drug driving, while a suspected commercial quantity of methyl amphetamine was found in his vehicle.
Inspector Ben Spencer, Investigations Manager, Traffic Support Branch, says police are also concerned by the number of dangerous defects identified on heavy vehicles this week.
“Of the 155 defect notices issued during the week, 41 were due to tyres followed by 33 for brakes. These figures are concerning given the increase in wet weather we are starting to see in South Australia.”
The presence of major or minor defects in a vehicle increases the risk of causing a road accident. Vehicles that have not been properly maintained have been responsible for a number of preventable deaths and serious injuries on Australian roads
Australian Government statistics show that, nationally, during the 12 months to the end of December, 2015, 210 people died from 187 crashes involving heavy trucks or buses.
These included 115 deaths from 102 crashes involving articulated trucks, 79 deaths from 72 crashes involving heavy rigid trucks and 20 deaths from 17 crashes involving buses.
Operation AUSTRANS continues until the end of May.
