The National Heavy Vehicle Regulator has released the results of Operation Omega and has reported its disappointment at registering almost 200 fatigue-related offences including 17 critical breaches.
Operation Omega was undertaken by the regulator in partnership with the relevant police forces in Queensland, Victoria, New South Wales, South Australia and Tasmania to conduct increased inspections and compliance checks over the holiday period.
Over the course of two weeks NHVR safety and compliance officers (SCOs) conducted 4524 inspections across their jurisdictions.
The 182 fatigue-related offences means roughly one in 24 drivers inspected was found to be in breach of fatigue regulations.
NHVR Chief Operations Officer Paul Salvati has reminded all drivers to remain vigilant in ensuring they are complying with fatigue regulations.
“Of the total intercepts conducted by NHVR officers, 182 resulted in fatigue-related compliance action, with fatigue offences occurring at a higher rate during nighttime hours despite there being less vehicles on the road,” he said.
“97 offences were detected during these intercepts for driver’s exceeding their allowable work hours, or not taking adequate periods of rest, some recording false or misleading work diary entries.
“17 of these offences were classified as critical fatigue breaches, the most severe fatigue-related violation, each presenting the highest risk of a driver causing a deadly crash, risking their life, or someone else’s.
“Unfortunately, we did detect 12 recidivist operators, with those companies receiving multiple fatigue-related offences during the two weeks.
“Companies must ensure their drivers are fit for work and aren’t driving tired – those that don’t, are putting other people’s lives at risk.
“I would like to remind drivers and operators to remain vigilant when it comes to adhering to work and rest requirements – this is critical to reducing road trauma, with every life lost on our roads also representing a family and a group of loved ones that have been forced to go through unimaginable grief.”
In addition to the 182 fatigue-related compliance actions, there were 742 intercepts with one or more mechanical defects identified during the operations.
1477 defect components were detected, with 185 of those being major.
“We are urging drivers to complete daily safety checks of their vehicle, to ensure it is safe and ready for the journey,” Salvati says.
“No one should be killed or injured on our roads – we all need to focus on safety and reduce this preventable road trauma in 2025.”
Education was also provided to drivers in over 1000 of the intercepts conducted which, Salvati says, is indicative of the NHVR’s desire to educate rather than punish.
“At the NHVR, we do not undertake ‘blitzes’, but rather focus our operations as an opportunity to inform and educate drivers ensuring they understand how to meet their safety obligations with enforcement only used as a secondary action where required,” he says.
“Work diary and fatigue-related education was provided in 623 of the intercepts conducted during Operation Omega, with the aim of creating a lasting impact on compliance and preventing potential fatigue-related incidents from occurring in the future.”
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