Brakeless B-double trailers worst of small cohort found in the wrong
South Australia Police (Sapol) and allied authorities conducted a vehicle compliance operation on Eyre Peninsula as part of an ongoing road safety operation in the region.
Operation Eyre Safe, “which has twin objectives of education and enforcement”, began in May in the wake of the cessation of the rail transport of grain in the lower Eyre Peninsula.
“The end of the rail service is expected to increase in the volume of heavy vehicle traffic on roads within the Eyre Peninsula and into the mid-north of the state,” Sapol adds.
The operation, assisted by Department of Planning, Transport and Infrastructure (DPTI) vehicle inspection officers, members of the National Heavy Vehicle Regulator (NHVR) and specialist Sapol sections, took place at The Tanks, a rest area on the Eyre Peninsula at Lincoln Gap, south of Port Augusta..
The location is near where the Eyre Highway meets the Lincoln Highway.
More than 1,200 drivers, including motorists, were stopped, with 1,077 undergoing testing for alcohol and 98 required to submit a drug swab. There were no positive results for alcohol, but five drivers result positive drug tests.
Read how the Operation Eyre Safe series came to be, here
“Alarmingly one B-double was found to have no working brakes on either trailer, with the vehicle grounded at Port Augusta until repair work is completed,” the force says.
Superintendent Paul Bahr, the officer in charge of the Eyre Western Local Service Area (LSA), says police had been promoting road safety education for all motorists in the area all year.
This operation, he notes, was focused on improving road safety through vehicle compliance, detection of drug and alcohol affected drivers and reducing the impact of illicit drug activity within the LSA.
“Today we are targeting all road users, not just heavy vehicles, but we know that there will be a lot of trucks travelling on the Eyre Highway,” Bahr says.
He highlights that large-scale compliance operations will be conducted regularly in the area during the harvest season, with the police “keen to promote responsible driving behaviour all road users”.
“It is important that everyone play their part,” Bahr says.
“All drivers need to be patient and give heavy vehicles the room they need to stop and manoeuver.
“Similarly heavy vehicle owners and operators need to comply with the law and ensure their vehicles are roadworthy at all times.”
Provisional results
- expiation notices: 26
- defects: 91
- cannabis expiations: 5
- drivers reported: 2
- drug diversions: 2
- heavy vehicle inspections: 152
- critical fatigue notices: 1
- minor fatigue notices: 1
- work diary offences: 4