Horrific Crash

• General News
• 15th March 2012

Highlights Need For Safe Rates

A horrific triple fatality road smash on a Western Sydney highway has highlighted the importance of the TW U national safe rates campaign.

Following the January 24 accident a Lennon’s Transport truck driver has been charged with three counts of dangerous driving occasioning death.

His B Double truck veered into oncoming traffic at high speed killing an elderly couple and their 59 year old son.

A subsequent NSW police raid on the Lennons Transport's depot found eight trucks "with evidence of speed manipulation and false truck log book entries".

Speed limiters had been illegally modified to allow them to do up to 150km per hour. The devices limit trucks to 100km and have been compulsory in trucks since 1998.

Police say they believe speed tampering of Lennons' trucks has been "company sanctioned".

As a part of "Operation Marshall", police also stopped a number of Lennons trucks and carried out mechanical inspections.

A driver was issued with defect and infringement notices for significant brake wear and failing to comply with oversize permits.

Another Lennon’s driver was allegedly found with cannabis in his possession and another had allegedly exceeded NSW fatigue restrictions by driving 17 hours in one day.

One truck was intercepted after failing to stop at a heavy vehicle checking station, and another was found abandoned on the side of the road.

There was no sign of the driver.

Amidst the crackdown the state’s assistant police commissioner has laid down the law to dodgy trucking operators.

“We are determined to send a clear message to truck operators flouting safety regulations across the state - you will face serious criminal charges,” he warned.

There have been several widely publicised truck crashes on the eastern seaboard this year and they have created a loud public outcry for action.

However the TW U knows that that action should not be soley focussed on the truck drivers involved in the regularly occurring fatalities.

And while there are plenty of desperate transport firms out there pushing their drivers to extremes to meet unrealistic delivery schedules, they are only part of the problem.

The blood of those who have lost their lives is also on the hands of the clients who force trucking companies to cut corners in order to meet unrealistic deadlines at ridiculously low cost.

Companies such as the big retailers and mining firms are putting truck drivers and motorists in early graves in their relentless drive for bigger profits.

This is why the national Safe Rates laws which are due to be debated in parliament in Canberra are so vital.

Safe rates will help curtail the rampant rate-cutting in the road freight industry that is the root cause of the problem.