Regional safety and livestock theft the stated target of recent blitzes
Details have emerged on a couple of the earliest NSW heavy vehicle compliance operations in 2021.
Most recently, a heavy vehicle operation in Walgett identified numerous safety issues occurring on regional roads, NSW Police reports.
On February 4, officers from Central North Highway Patrol and Traffic Operations Group held a joint operation with Transport for NSW targeting heavy vehicle compliance on the Castlereagh Highway, Walgett.
More than 60 heavy vehicles were stopped and checked for safety and compliance, resulting in:
- 49 Traffic Infringement Notices issued to drivers for fatigue related offences, unsecured loads causing a substantial risk as well as other offences
- 19 Court Attendance Notices were issued to drivers for high risk offences such as severe dimension breaches
- 6 heavy vehicles were issued defect notices and one notice to reduce the load issued.
“Further joint operations will be held in regional NSW to ensure our major roads and highways remain safe for all road users,” a short notice reads.
Earlier, on February 2-3, Operation Stock Check was held around the Cowra Saleyards.
Officers attached to Chifley Highway Patrol, Chifley Rural Crime investigators, Central West Rural Crime investigators and Transport for NSW heavy vehicle inspectors conducted compliance checks over the two day operation “with the intention to prevent livestock theft by disrupting the movement of stolen stock in western NSW”.
A reported 75 livestock carriers (loaded) were intercepted and inspected, with the following outcome
- 75 breath tests conducted on heavy vehicle drivers
- 5 livestock offences were detected with some cautions issued for offences relating to not carrying relevant documentation such as National Vendors Declaration (NVD) or Transported Stock Statement (TSS).
- 19 Heavy Vehicle Fatigue Offences detected
- 21 Traffic Infringement Notices issued
- 6 Court Attendance Notices issued
“This ongoing police operation is a high-visibility strategy which involves the inspection of vehicles carrying livestock to identify and target loads which may contain stolen livestock,” NSW Police notes.