Amendment to Heavy Vehicle Load Responsibility
Published Tuesday, 09 October, 2007 at 09:52 PM
Minister for Transport, Trade, Employment and Industrial Relations
The Honourable John Mickel
Legislation amendments endorsed by state parliament today make clear the safety responsibilities of everyone involved in some way with a consignment on a heavy vehicle using Queensland's roads.
Minister for Transport John Mickel said we must continue to do all we can to make our roads safe for all users.
"The Transport Legislation Amendment Bill amendments or what we call chain-of-responsibility legislation will enforce compliance with heavy vehicle road transport laws by identifying other roles beside the driver to make sure a consignment is being transported safely," Mr Mickel said.
People who can be held accountable include owners of the heavy vehicle, registered operators, someone who controls loading, consignors, packers, loaders, you name it - they all contribute.
"Even people who receive the goods can be charged if they are found to have acted in a way that causes the heavy vehicle operating requirements to be ignored in some way.
"This bill clarifies the responsibilities of each member of the transport chain and outlines the steps they must take to ensure they are operating legally and safely.
"We know most people in the road freight industry are trying to do the right thing so we're also introducing a defence for them where they couldn't reasonably be expected to know of any breach, they did all they could to prevent a breach occurring, or there was nothing they could have done about a breach."
Since the introduction of chain of responsibility legislation, Queensland Transport has prosecuted 529 offenders on 3049 charges with fines totalling more than 1.5 million dollars. More than $1 million of those fines – 80% - has come from someone further up the chain of responsibility than just the truck driver.
The legislation also supports greater collaboration between the various jurisdictions to strengthen the management of the road freight industry, and removes loopholes that might occur between states, as all states and territories in Australia have agreed to introduce the same standards and legislation.
Other changes endorsed this week change the period allowed to initiate proceedings against serious hit-and-run offenders on the state's roads.
The Transport Legislation Amendment Bill extends that period from one year to five years.
“Identifying offenders of hit-and-run crashes could be a prolonged process, and authorities might not identify an offender for some time after the offence occurred,” Mr Mickel said.
"This legislative package will amend the Transport Operations (Road Use Management) Act 1995 so that in cases where the incident results in injury to or death of a person, there will be more time to bring the culprit to justice.
"The extension of time does not apply where the incident results only in property damage, and it will apply only to people charged over an incident that occurs after this bill is proclaimed.
"Nine people were killed by a hit-and-run driver last year and more than 130 people were taken to hospital as a result of hit-and-run incidents.
"This type of offence can dramatically escalate the trauma for families and friends of victims, so this extended scope to initiate proceedings is thoroughly worthwhile," he said.
Media contact: Chris Brown 3237 1944 or Elouise Campion 3237 1125.
October 9, 2007
Minister for Transport John Mickel said we must continue to do all we can to make our roads safe for all users.
"The Transport Legislation Amendment Bill amendments or what we call chain-of-responsibility legislation will enforce compliance with heavy vehicle road transport laws by identifying other roles beside the driver to make sure a consignment is being transported safely," Mr Mickel said.
People who can be held accountable include owners of the heavy vehicle, registered operators, someone who controls loading, consignors, packers, loaders, you name it - they all contribute.
"Even people who receive the goods can be charged if they are found to have acted in a way that causes the heavy vehicle operating requirements to be ignored in some way.
"This bill clarifies the responsibilities of each member of the transport chain and outlines the steps they must take to ensure they are operating legally and safely.
"We know most people in the road freight industry are trying to do the right thing so we're also introducing a defence for them where they couldn't reasonably be expected to know of any breach, they did all they could to prevent a breach occurring, or there was nothing they could have done about a breach."
Since the introduction of chain of responsibility legislation, Queensland Transport has prosecuted 529 offenders on 3049 charges with fines totalling more than 1.5 million dollars. More than $1 million of those fines – 80% - has come from someone further up the chain of responsibility than just the truck driver.
The legislation also supports greater collaboration between the various jurisdictions to strengthen the management of the road freight industry, and removes loopholes that might occur between states, as all states and territories in Australia have agreed to introduce the same standards and legislation.
Other changes endorsed this week change the period allowed to initiate proceedings against serious hit-and-run offenders on the state's roads.
The Transport Legislation Amendment Bill extends that period from one year to five years.
“Identifying offenders of hit-and-run crashes could be a prolonged process, and authorities might not identify an offender for some time after the offence occurred,” Mr Mickel said.
"This legislative package will amend the Transport Operations (Road Use Management) Act 1995 so that in cases where the incident results in injury to or death of a person, there will be more time to bring the culprit to justice.
"The extension of time does not apply where the incident results only in property damage, and it will apply only to people charged over an incident that occurs after this bill is proclaimed.
"Nine people were killed by a hit-and-run driver last year and more than 130 people were taken to hospital as a result of hit-and-run incidents.
"This type of offence can dramatically escalate the trauma for families and friends of victims, so this extended scope to initiate proceedings is thoroughly worthwhile," he said.
Media contact: Chris Brown 3237 1944 or Elouise Campion 3237 1125.
October 9, 2007