Roads And Traffic Legislation Amendment (Load Restraint) Bill

About this Item
Speakers - Egan The Hon Michael; Goldsmith The Hon Dr Marlene; Nile Reverend The Hon Fred; Jones The Hon Richard
Business - Bill, Second Reading

ROADS AND TRAFFIC LEGISLATION AMENDMENT (LOAD RESTRAINT) BILL Second Reading

The Hon. M. R. EGAN (Treasurer, Minister for State Development, and Vice-President of the Executive Council) [10.01 p.m.]: I move:

That this bill be now read a second time.

I seek leave to have the second reading speech incorporated in Hansard.

Leave granted.

The purpose of the bill before the House is to confer new powers on enforcement officers to reduce incidents of unsafe loading of vehicles and to introduce additional offences with stringent penalties for unsafe loading practices. Obligations to safely restrain loads on motor vehicles have been in place in the motor traffic regulations for many years. However, these obligations were not comprehensive and were difficult to enforce unless a load had already fallen from a vehicle. To remedy these defects, it was agreed nationally to prepare a set of comprehensive guidelines. This includes performance standards to facilitate safe load restraint systems and practices.

Even though the national guidelines developed to deal with the safe restraint of loads were introduced by the Government into New South Wales law in 1995, the expected level of compliance has not been achieved. Deaths of innocent road users, property damage and general public inconvenience have been caused by loads falling off vehicles, particularly trucks. Since February 1997 there have been four fatal accidents in New South Wales, caused by either loads falling from vehicles or shifting forward into the driver’s cabin. As a result, the Government has decided that further measures need to be taken to deal with this serious safety issue.

The bill enables officers of the Roads and Traffic Authority and councils, as well as police officers, to stop vehicles and give directions to persons in charge of vehicles with unstable or unsafe loads not to drive until the loads are safely secured. A serious issue raised by drivers was that they were being asked to move potentially unstable loads but were not being supplied with adequate load restraining equipment. The risk that a vehicle with an improperly restrained load will be grounded will build in an incentive for vehicle owners to supply their drivers with proper restraint equipment. The proposed new offences relate to the use of vehicles that are loaded unsafely resulting in death or personal injury or damage to property.

Penalties of up to $5,500 and 12 months in prison can be imposed on individuals who engage in unsafe loading practices which cause death, injury or property damage. Corporations are liable to penalties of up to $11,000. Directors and managers of corporations owning vehicles loaded unsafely which cause death, injury or property damage can also be liable to financial penalties and imprisonment. Although the primary objective of the proposal is community safety, there are obvious savings to the community and Government by introducing proper load restraint practices. Safe loading practices will mean fewer accidents. This will mean less traffic disruption and less need for emergency response resources. The increased likelihood of goods arriving undamaged and on time will be a benefit to the road transport industry.

An important element of this package of measures will be to provide better education and training to vehicle owners and drivers as to the correct equipment to use and measures to take to safely secure loads. The Roads and Traffic Authority is preparing instructional leaflets for vehicle owners on how to comply with load restraint guidelines. The RTA will also work with industry to provide better training for drivers on load restraint practices. The bill will provide the incentive for transport operators and vehicle drivers to do the right thing and secure their loads properly. This will make our roads safer for all drivers. I commend the bill to the House.

Page 5256

The Hon. Dr MARLENE GOLDSMITH [10.02 p.m.]: I am sure all honourable members are aware that this bill will enable Roads and Traffic Authority officers, police officers and other authorised officers to give directions to heavy and commercial vehicle operators to ensure that their loads are safely secured. The bill will also empower enforcement officers to detain any vehicle until its load is safe. The bill proposes new offences of penalties of up to $5,500 and 12 months imprisonment for individuals who load their vehicles unsafely and, as a direct result, cause death, injury or property damage. The bill will also make corporations liable for penalties of up to $11,000. Directors and managers of corporations owning vehicles loaded unsafely which cause death, injury or property damage can also be liable to financial penalties and imprisonment.

Heavy vehicle and commercial operators have been subject to road restraint rules under the motor traffic regulations, rules which were difficult to construe and hard to enforce unless a load had already fallen from a vehicle. When New South Wales became party to moves to make road rules uniform throughout the country it was agreed nationally to prepare a set of comprehensive guidelines. The guidelines included performance standards to facilitate safe load restraint systems and practices.

A set of national guidelines was introduced by the Government into New South Wales law in 1995. However, the expected level of compliance has not been achieved. Deaths of innocent road users, property damage and general public inconvenience have been caused by loads falling off vehicles, particularly trucks. Since February 1997 there have been four fatal accidents in New South Wales caused by loads falling from vehicles or shifting forward into the driver’s cabin.

The Opposition is strongly committed to safety in the commercial transport of goods in Australia and it is also strongly committed to national guidelines, something which is not only desirable but also essential in an industry that has so much traffic across State lines. However, the level of new penalties in this area is another example of revenue grabbing by the Carr Government. There have been many examples of this in recent months and years. It seems that every week the people of the State are confronting a new tax grab by the Carr Government or some sort of new revenue-raising gimmick that catches people unawares - and this from a government that I am sure honourable members will remember promised no new taxes. In this case, this revenue grab is hitting small business people, which is what so many commercial vehicle operators are. With that reservation and objection the Opposition will not oppose the bill because of the other overriding factors I have already mentioned - road safety and the desirability of national guidelines.

Reverend the Hon. F. J. NILE [10.04 p.m.]: The Christian Democratic Party is pleased to support the Roads and Traffic Legislation Amendment (Load Restraint) Bill. We are concerned about the level of all types of accidents on our highways. We all remember the tragedy that occurred a few years ago when large wool bales fell off the back of a truck onto a car in the Orange area and the young lady in the car was killed. That brought to our attention the fact that there was a problem. Over the last few years the Government has attempted to deal with these problems. This legislation is a further move to improve the requirements under motor traffic regulations for the safe restraint of loads. In the past it was difficult to enforce these regulations unless a load had fallen off a vehicle. That is a bit like crying over spilled milk.

This bill will give various inspectors power to act when they inspect vehicles and find that the vehicle has been incorrectly loaded or that the load has not been restrained properly and it could cause an accident. Since February 1997 there have been four fatal accidents in New South Wales which apparently were due to incorrectly restrained loads on vehicles. In at least one case the driver was killed by the load crushing the driver’s cabin. This legislation, which is in the interests of both drivers and the public who use the roads, will facilitate the inspection of loads by enforcing officers and enable them, where necessary, to implement directions for corrective action. It introduces heavy penalties for those responsible who knew, or ought to have known, that the method of securing the load was dangerous, and death, injury, or property damage could result. Corporations will face fines of up to $11,000, with individuals facing penalties of up to $5,500 dollars and/or 12 months imprisonment. The Christian Democratic Party is pleased to support the bill.

The Hon. R. S. L. JONES: [10.07 p.m.]: I support the legislation from the Minister for Transport, and Minister for Roads, who seems to excel in the art of introducing good legislation. Some years ago I was almost decapitated by a large piece of metal falling off the back of a truck. I accelerated out of it and it hit the back of my car and very nearly went through to the windscreen. That was a frightening experience. This legislation is in the interests of drivers, as some drivers are killed as a result of bad loading. The legislation is not just
Page 5257
in the interests of people like me or others travelling behind these vehicles; it is in the interests of all drivers. I hope this legislation will tighten up all these measures and that there will be fewer deaths in the next 12 months.

Motion agreed to.

Bill read a second time and passed through remaining stages.

Last modified 05/12/2007 16:29:23 : Update this page