Our Horror Highways

• General News
• 9th October 2012

The death of truck driver Ashley Johnson on the North West coastal highway on September 1 was a terrible tragedy that has sent shockwaves reverberating throughout the transport industry.

But the fatality on the dangerously narrow stretch of highway was not unexpected. Long distance truck drivers have been complaining about the road for years.

And in a sad twist of fate it was Ashley’s brother Rodney who first began ringing the alarm bells about the road back in 2009.

In a Wheel article at the time Rod described the 135km stretch of the highway North of Minilya as a "Death Trap in Waiting". "Surely it is only a matter of time before we have a head on collision with tragic circumstance," Rod predicted.

At the time Rod had already raised the issue with Main Roads and had begun lobbying both federal and state governments for something to be done about the road.

Rod outlined his concerns in a letter to the TWU:

"With road trains being 2.5 metres wide, plus mirrors, you don't have to be a mathematics professor to calculate the slim room for error".

"It really is 'bite the steering wheel and hope for the best' when you are passing some of these vehicles.

"Long distance driving is a tough enough industry as it is – we all want is to get home to our families – but this stretch of highway really is frightening", he added.

Since Ashley's death the TWU has been able to generate a lot of publicity about the risk to truck drivers' lives on our North West highways.

The excellent article (above) by Kent Acott appeared in The West Australian newspaper on September 8.

Kent's story was about the other seriously dangerous section of road on the Great Northern Highway between Wubin and New Norcia. Another minefield for truckies.

We put Kent in touch with three of our members who regularly drive the two highways. Wally Webb, Peter Elliott and Russell White are all trucking veterans. They each did a brilliant job describing the nightmarish conditions that confront them and their fellow drivers every time they head North.

The TWU is now more determined than ever to squeeze the much - needed money out of both the federal and state governments to fix the horror stretches and make our members jobs safer.

Amazingly, no funding has been allocated to either project and according to Main Roads their proposals for urgent funding have been rejected. That has to change and desperate situations sometimes require desperate measures.

STAY TUNED!