Rules fright for freight drivers?
2012-07-10 11:49
SCARE HEAVY HAULING DRIVERS? SARF is urging the transport ministry to practice stricter law enforcement on heavy vehicle drivers.
The South African Road Federation has urged national transport minister Ben Martins to address the crash frequency of heavy freight vehicles on South African roads with more visible and stricter law enforcement.
The federation's operations director, Basil Jonsson, said poor and irresponsible heavy vehicle driver behaviour could be curtailed through fear of falling foul of the law.
POOR HAULAGE PRACTICES
Jonsson continued: "Not nearly enough is being done to enforce the seldom observed 80km speed limit for heavy vehicles. Moreover, operators of unroadworthy vehicles should be charged with criminal negligence, the more so when the transport of hazardous substances is involved.
"SARF believes that if the Minister addressed these problems with the same diligence as he has the public transport issue, a considerable improvement in heavy haulage safety would ensue.”
According to SARF, in a series of spot checks conducted on South Africa's major highways by a “group of concerned bodies”, it was revealed that between 60 and 70% of freight vehicles tested had defective brakes or tyres, or both.
SARF notes other contributing factors to the high crash rate as driver fatigue, poor driver health, driver incompetence and inadequate training, overloading, and poor load securing.
