There are now advanced proposals to
allow B-Triples access to the Hume Highway.
When introduced in the late 1980’s
into NSW, B-Doubles were supposed to be much safer than semitrailers, and be
professionally driven. However, a fatal road crash involving a B-Double and a car in early 2012 on the
Hume Highway on or near the Menangle River Bridge led to examination of the
B-Double and its speed limiting equipment and found reported tampering of this
equipment.
Before
any further consideration is given to B-Triples on the Hume Highway, there
should be an acknowledgement by the Australian and NSW governments that more
measures need to be put in place to improve the safety of B-Doubles operating
on the Hume Highway. These could include:
- An absolute speed limit
of 100 km/h for B-Doubles (this current limit is too often exceeded).
- Keeping to the left hand
lane, except in the case that there are three lanes in one direction. (in other words, keep out of the centre
lane). In some cases, where hills are to be climbed, there is a case for
extra lanes to allow slow moving trucks, faster moving trucks and cars.
- More effective use of
Saf-T-Cam.
- Reforms such as advocated by Mr Lindsay Fox AC and others to have better control of driving hours. Here, on Channel 9, on A Current Affair It's the crusade to stop the carnage on Aussie roads, for 26 November 2012, Mr Fox called for Locked Black Box truck monitoring, with a suggestion that State and Federal governments are asleep at the wheel.
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