34 AUGUST 2019 ownerdriver.com.au
EYES ON THEROAD Rod Hannifey
W
HYISITOURTRUCKShave
toberoadworthywhen
ourroadsdonothaveto
betruckworthy?Yes,we
havesomegoodroadsor
atleastsomeroadswith
goodsections.Thenew
PacificHighwaybeingnewshouldbe
goodfora fewyearsmore,untilthey
startdoingornotdoinggoodquality
repairsasandwhenneeded.
MuchoftheHumeinVictoriaisokay
andthenewersectionsoftheHume
inNSWisokayalso,buttherestofour
roadsarenotbeingmaintained!
Wearechargedtousethem,whenthe
publicdotoo.Theyarenotjustforus,yet
weareblamedfordamagingthem.My
view–andI wouldwelcomeyours–is
thatthebiggestissueforroaddamage
isthewaytheroaditselfisbuiltand/
orrepaired.Iftheroadisbuiltuptoa
standard,thenitwillcarrytheloaditis
designedfor,formanyyears.
Ifitisbuiltdowntoa cost,sodone
toocheaply,thenofcourseitwill
notcompleteitsdutylifeorsurvive
withoutfailure.Whenitfails,itmust
beproperlyrepairedbackuptothe
originalstandard,oritwillfaileven
earlieryetagain.
Whofeelsitfirstandseesitfirst?We
do,intrucks,becauseyes,theyweigh
more.Whydotheyweighmore?Because
wearecarryingtheneedsandwealthof
thiscountryforthepeopletouse.
Howmanyofyoucarrya loadof
cementslabsaroundjustforthefunof
it?Thepublicseemtothinkthatbecause
theycannotseethefreightwiththe
advent of tautliners that we all drive
aroundemptyjusttocloguptheroads.
Honestly,asanindustry,wehave
failedtoshowthepublicwhatwedo
forthemandtohavethemrecognise
thevalueofourcontributiontotheir
wayoflife.HIGHWAYWORKPLACE
Sohowdowegetbetterandsaferroads
as,nomatterwhatglossorspintheyput
onthis,itisourworkplace.Ofcourse
theywon’trecognisethisbecausethen
theywouldhavetodosomethingorbe
heldliable.Ifyoudon’tdoa complete
crashinvestigation(tobefairthose
onthegroundatthesiteofa fatality
alreadyhavetoomuchontheir
hands),howcanyoustopitfrom
happeningagain?
Weareunfortunatelyhumanandso
makemistakes.Computersdotooand
theyareprogrammedandcontrolled
byhumans,soifweletcomputersrule,
theymaywelldecidetogetridofallof
us.Butthatbattleisforanotherdayin
thefuture.
Nowwejustwantsaferoadsandtoget
homeeachtripinonepiece,insteadof
shakenandbouncedandterrifiedofthe
otherswhotooareaffectedbybadroad
surfaces.Dipsandbumpsplayhavoc
withthemusingtheirphones,letalone
theotherstuffthosepeoplegetupto.
Oncetheroadstartstofailordeform,
haveyoueverseenanythatmagically
fixthemselves?The‘RoughSurface’signs
don’tfixtheroad,theydon’tshowa
degreeofdamageandtheyshouldnotbe
onanyroadformorethana month,let
alonelefttherefor 12 monthsormore.
How many of you travel CunninghamsOur roads in disrepair
Gap and have seen both the road failures
on the Warwick side, the lousy attempts
to patch them and the 60km/h signs in
place for months. There must be over 20
failures and yes, they were an issue, but
not inherently dangerous individually
any more than any other road failure,
pothole or deformity. Together, they are
an indictment of our road system that
it seems cannot fix even one section of
road to highway standard. Why then are
we being asked to pay more and to pay
forward for a system that is failing us now?
This may well rile some but the recent
deaths in mines are terrible for all involved
and I doubt any single cause can yet be
found or fixed to prevent any further
immediate loss of life. Yet more than six
people will die on the road this and every
week and some of those deaths could well
be in part a result of our roads.
The problems can be seen, they are not
hidden, they are often known about, hence
the signs, but why are they left for months
and months hoping no one will die?GIVING FEEDBACK
I have asked before for a national road
standard. I believe that any road that fails
a simple test for level or failure should be
repaired within one month of notification.
We must all recognise someone sitting in a
capital city will not immediately know of
a problem a thousand or more kilometres
away and that is where we, the road users,
must contribute that data.
We in trucks see and feel it first and
must provide the info, but then it must be
actioned. To go out the next day to every
pothole will cost a fortune and that will
not happen, nor will it be a reasonable
use of the funding. But surely a repair
within a month should be the aim, unless
inherently dangerous and likely to cause
an immediate crash and or possible loss
of life. Then it should at the very least be
inspected and then repaired as soon as
reasonably practical.
What can we do to have safe roads,
to be provided with a safe workplace?
Considering all the over-the-top crap we
go through now in some workplaces to be
kept safe, still no one seems to care about
our safety on the road.
Who will do something to fix this?
When you find them, please let me know,
because I have a very long list for them to
work on.RODHANNIFEY,a transport
safetyadvocate,hasbeen
involvedinraisingthe profile of
the industry,conductinghighway
truckaudits,the BlueReflector
Trialforinformalparkingbays
onthe Newell,the ‘Truckies
onRoadCode’,the national
1800 numberforroadrepairs
proposal, andthe BetterRoadside
RestAreasGroup.ContactRod
on 0428120560 ,e-mail
[email protected]
visitwww.truckright.com.auBelow left: Rolling up
Cunninghams Gap.
Photo by Greg BushRough patch-up jobs, potholes, dip and bumps –
you name it, our roads have it!
“The ‘Rough
Surface’
signs don’t
fix the road.”