Big rig fears

By JONATHON HOWARD

TRUCKS travelling west through Warwick bound for Goondiwindi are reaching break-neck speeds and residents are calling for a greater police presence and speed reductions.
Tracy and Mark Binskin live at Kelly Court on Warwick’s west side.
During the past decade the couple has watched the area grow from a few homes to the introduction of three new housing developments and an increase in traffic.
“We can see up to 70 trucks pass our house per hour,” Mrs Binskin said.
The couple said it was time for speed limits to be reduced along Wood Stree between Tooth Street and Lyndhurst Lane.
The current speed limit is 70km per hour between Tooth Street and Taylor Street, where it increases to a 80km/h zone before becoming 100km/h.
But the couple said many truck drivers were already exceeding the posted speed limits, as well as tail-gating and putting lives in danger.
“At least three new housing estates have opened around Lyndhurst Lane area where 80km/h is now highly inappropriate,” Mrs Binskin said.
“What I would like to see is 60km per hour all the way through to and including Lyndhurst Lane intersection.”
Mrs Binskin said the 70km/h speed limit could be posted at the Sandy Creek turnoff; 80km/h to the Leslie Dam turn off; and 100km from that point.
“One of the big problems is some of the big rigs think that they do not have to obey speed signs and they are clocking up to 110km/h heading out of town,” Mr Binskin said.
Both Mr and Mrs Binskin said they had nothing against truckers and the trucking industry.
“However, Wood St and the Cunningham Hwy is not Morgan Park Race Track and nobody, elderly or otherwise, should be forced to drive at excessive speed limits by tail gating trucks,” she said.
The couple have called on residents to back the speed reduction through the State Government’s Speed Limit Review.
To find out more about the review of speed limits and lodge a suggestion visit www.tmr.qld.au/speedlimitreview.

BREAK OUT
ONE of the largest ever surveys of truck drivers has revealed around 40 per cent reported being pressured into breaking fatigue regulations and one in four have said they are forced to drive at excessive speeds in order to meet deadlines.
The Transport Workers’ Union’s Safe Rates Survey was conducted over a three-week period ending and took comments from 715 transport workers from across the country.
TWU national secretary Tony Sheldon said these shocking results again confirm the deadly squeeze that powerful industry clients like the major retailers apply to drivers and operators.
“With no way to ensure cost recovery on essentials like fuel and maintenance, or when forced to work slabs of unpaid waiting time, truck drivers have to push themselves to – and sometimes through – the limit.”
Survey results:
– Unpaid work: 48 per cent of drivers report almost one day a week in unpaid waiting time. For delivery drivers it is more than 10 hours a week. This represents 300-500 hours a year working without pay.
– Unsafe vehicles: an alarming 56 per cent of owner-drivers have had to forego vehicle maintenance because of economic pressure.
– Unnecessary risk: 27 per cent of drivers felt they had to drive too fast, and nearly 40 per cent feel pressured to drive longer than legally allowed as a result of client pressure.
The deadly consequences end up as statistics such as the Department of Infrastructure and Transport’s 2010 Road Deaths Australia Report. This shows 256 deaths in crashes involving heavy trucks, seven fatalities more than the year before. The number of deaths in trucks under 4.5 tonnes is not formally calculated, but is generally known to be high.