Edition 54, March 2008

New chain of responsibility laws to target heavy vehicle speeding

The National Transport Commission, in order to improve road safety, has developed chain of responsibility legislation targeting speed offences.

The aim of the chain of responsibility legislation is to focus on the underlying cause of heavy vehicle speeding. This is done by imposing a share of responsibility for road safety on off-road parties. Each person in the transport chain will be required to take reasonable steps to ensure delivery schedules and deadlines do not put pressure on drivers to break road rules. Drivers of heavy vehicles are already targeted by existing legislation and are therefore not included in the new laws.

Penalties include court-imposed fines of up to $50,000 plus three times the estimated commercial benefit for breaking the law. Road agencies can also ask the court to impose bans and prohibition orders, such as fitting vehicle tracking technology.

The importance of sharing responsibility for speed compliance was identified by a Summit to Combat Speeding Heavy Trucks (jointly hosted by the Australian Trucking Association and the National Transport Commission). All governments have agreed to implement the model chain of responsibility laws for speed compliance within 12 months.

Further information on chain of responsibility can be found by visiting www.ntc.gov.au (Select 'Heavy Vehicle Driver Fatigue Reform' > 'About the Reform' > 'Chain of Responsibility'.)

This page was generated on 12 January, 2010

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