Archive, Industry News

Ongoing enforcement fosters compliance: Victoria Police

Operation Crossway revealed high level of compliance

 

Victoria Police says fostering compliance involves ongoing enforcement, after a recent blitz on the state’s western coastline resulted in a tick of approval for heavy vehicle operators – an assessment not always accorded to industry.    

Operation Crossway was a multi-agency effort in Portland focusing on heavy vehicle and maritime compliance that, at the time, conveyed a strong message targeting industry’s transgressions.

“Fatigue, speeding, illicit drug use and unroadworthy vehicles remain the biggest contributors to serious collisions involving heavy vehicles, and that behaviour can have fatal consequences,” western region inspector Dave Reither said in a statement at the time.

“This operation is not just about enforcement but also hopefully means that by highlighting the fact we are actively targeting this activity, it prevents some drivers and operators from taking these risks.”

Reither’s message was reinforced by VicRoads manager transport safety services Metro Russell Greenland, who says: “This is a warning to fleet operators that if you don’t keep your vehicles in a roadworthy condition and put the safety of the public at risk, we’ll come after you and you’ll face potentially very serious consequences.”


Read about VicRoads targeting hip pocket nerve in compliance strategy, here


In total, 540 vehicles and vessels were checked, resulting in 65 penalty notices for a range of traffic and maritime offences.

Of those, 67 heavy vehicles checks were conducted, with authorities looking for traffic, fatigue and compliance breaches.  

The official line from police was that no trucks were taken off the road.

When asked by ATN to clarify the particular emphasis on heavy vehicles, a Victoria Police spokesperson says: “Due to the nature of the dock precinct and the high volume of heavy vehicle traffic that regularly use its operations it would be remiss of authorities not to ensure heavy vehicles were compliant.”

The spokesperson notes that, while enforcement was satisfied with the compliance rate from heavy vehicles on this occasion, “ongoing” compliance activity was a necessity.  

“Police regularly run road safety operations and in this case amongst other things, looked at safety, fatigue, drink/drug driving, chain of responsibility requirements and or any other areas which could be detrimental and or impact road safety or workplace safety related issues.

“Fostering compliance involves ongoing enforcement and on this occasion it was pleasing to police that no heavy vehicles were taken off the road.”

 

Previous ArticleNext Article
Send this to a friend