Action urged on truck speed

Police need to work harder at making trucks stick to the speed limit, says the Auditor-General.

In a progress report to Parliament, Kevin Brady found that five key recommendations of the 1996 transport committee's inquiry into truck crashes had been implemented.

But he was "disappointed" by the "long delay" in action on two key recommendations, including enforcing speed limits.

Truck crashes now account for 20 per cent of all road deaths and 7.5 per cent of all road injuries, the report said.

"Truck drivers are not at fault in two-thirds of these crashes, but their impact could be more severe than other types of crashes, so it is important that trucks operate within acceptable speed limits and in a safe condition," Mr Brady said.

The two recommendations which faced long delays before being implemented were:

* That police should take immediate action to reduce truck speeds to their legal limits.

* The Health and Safety in Employment Act 1992 should be applied immediately to the trucking industry.

Mr Brady said that police had not given priority to enforcing truck speed limits.

"Very few speeding offence notices were issued, and truck speeds did not begin to fall until the Highway Patrol Unit was formed four years after the committee's report was released."

Until May last year, different types of trucks had different speed limits, which complicated enforcement.

Although truck speeds were standardised last year, it was too early to assess the result of the change, Mr Brady said.

The committee also found that safety in the trucking industry could be more effectively enforced if police were appointed inspectors under the Health and Safety in Employment Act. After delays, police were finally appointed safety inspectors in November 2003, with 80 now qualified.

"The encouraging news is that the number of fatal truck crashes is declining," Mr Brady said in his report.

"In our view, this can be attributed to the range of safety initiatives taken by government agencies and the trucking industry. However, truck travel is increasing, and continued attention will need to be paid to truck safety."

Mr Brady recommended the Ministry of Transport provide the committee with regular reports which covered trends in fatal truck crashes, police enforcement of truck speeds, and progress in applying health and safety laws to transport operations.

He also called for the ministry to report on action taken to implement the other 60 recommendations from the 1996 committee report.

- NZPA