UPDATED: 46 defect notices issued during truck and dog safety blitz in Roselands, NSW
Police and Road and Maritime Services (RMS) inspectors issued 46 defect notices during a truck safety blitz known as ‘Operation Catapult’ in the Sydney suburb of Roselands on Thursday, May 17.
The inspections were part of a joint project focusing on truck and dog contrtactors working on major infrastructure projects that involved NSW police, RMS and the Environmental Protection Authority, known as Operation Catapult Eight.
An RMS spokesperson confirms to ATN that 11 infringement notices were issued for a range of minor offences and that two drivers had tested positive for drugs.
“Of the 46 defect notices issued, four were for major defects, the most significant involving poorly maintained brakes,” the spokesperson said.
“There were also two substantial risk over mass breaches, two speed limiters found to be non compliant, one truck was unregistered and had severely worn tyres and one driver was found to have a suspended licence.”
The NSW Police Traffic and Highway Patrol Commander, assistant commissioner Michael Corboy, tells Radio 2GB during the inspection that police had issued traffic infringement notices during the inspection.
The Daily Telegraph reports that the Environmental Protection Authority (EPA) was also at the site to test for contamination among the vehicles, many of which had been shifting spoil from the WestConnex underground motorway worksite.
“We have found there is a whole range of interlocking processes around this so we try to go back and find the owners and find out who is responsible in the end so we can get those Chain of Responsibility breaches going,” Corboy told the radio station.
Editors’ note: An earlier version of this article stated that police and RMS had found at least 15 defects, with six traffic infringement notices issued. The story has been updated with new information.