Road safety: Quarter of all trucks tested in North Island police blitz fail brake test

Authorities tested the brakes of 58 vehicles and found 15 of them were faulty. Photo / 123rf

By RNZ

The brakes on more than a quarter of trucks tested in a recent police operation on central North Island roads were found to be faulty.

Between November 3-6, the police inspected 910 “heavy vehicles and trailers” at checkpoints on State Highway 5 between Napier and Taupō, State Highway One at Tūrangi and State Highway 3 at Te Kūiti.

Of those, 165 had defects that included not being up to certificate-of-fitness standards, road user charges compliance, speeding, logbook problems and insecure loading.

The police said some were easy-to-fix problems that could be spotted by daily “walk-around” checks, such as faulty lights, brakes and wheels needing attention.

Authorities tested the brakes of 58 vehicles and 15 of them – 26% – were faulty.

“Nobody wants a heavy motor vehicle, often weighing over 50,000kg, coming towards you with defective brakes,” Senior Sergeant Lex Soepnel, from the police commercial vehicle safety team, said.

The police were focused on preventing crashes and not “picking up the pieces” afterwards, he said.

“What we’re asking for is simple. We have rules in place to keep all road users safe and we’re asking heavy vehicle operators to meet those standards.”

The police issued 141 infringement notices after the operation.

“We need everyone to ensure that their vehicles are maintained to a safe and compliant standard, and that drivers are well rested and not fatigued,” Soepnel said.

– RNZ

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