THE South Eastern Freeway’s downtrack has been a hotspot for crashes in SA, with two people injured in an accident only this month.
Safety concerns for this stretch of road have lead to new penalties for heavy vehicles travelling from Crafers to the tollgate without using low gear or exceeding the speed limit by 10 kilometres an hour or more.
For a first offence, fines of up to $5000 and immediate loss of licence for six months can apply.
Penalties for any subsequent offending can include imprisonment.
SAPOL heavy vehicle enforcement officer Ian Norris urged drivers to take care along the notorious stretch of road.
“When travelling down the SE Freeway, it’s very important to get it right coming into Adelaide, or else very big penalties can apply,” he said.
“As recently as last Tuesday (June 5) we had a truck come down the freeway and end up in the arrester bed.”
Mr Norris said an incident on the Southern Expressway recently highlighted the importance of regular inspections, and not just “ticking boxes” to say everything was alright with a vehicle.
“Two wheels came lose from a truck and hit vehicles travelling the other way,” he said. “There were no injuries but the potential was there for far more serious consequences.”
Mr Norris said correct record-keeping within the transport industry was crucial.
“Bells should be ringing straight away if you’re not getting records in from drivers,” he said.
A major issue police are seeing on the roads is driver fatigue, in particular working through rest breaks and not recording non-driving tasks.
Mr Norris said the main complaints police received about heavy vehicles were tailgating and speeding, particularly through roadworks. He said in one recent week eight incidents came to him for investigation.
“We know people are trying to do the right thing but it’s the small, recalcitrant minority that spoil things for the rest of us,” he said.
