Page 356 - Week 02 - Tuesday, 20 February 1990
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As a result of the consultative process, a number of changes were made to draft legislation, which recognised industry concerns but which did not undermine the principles of the legislation or introduce provisions that would be inconsistent with practices elsewhere. For example, there was concern that a driver or owner of a vehicle could be liable for an offence when the loading of the vehicle was outside his or her control. Provision has now been made to ensure that persons intentionally overloading vehicles are held responsible.
In regard to enforcement of the new legislation, I make the following points. There will be a moratorium of several months, during which time only flagrant breaches will be prosecuted. At the same time, inspectors will visit as many establishments as possible to give all users advice on what is required. An announcement will be made before full-scale enforcement is introduced.
A consultant has been involved in discussions with the industry on such issues as the use of volumetric assessment as a means of identifying obvious offenders; seeking the cooperation of quarry operators and others who have weighing equipment on site to prevent excess loading; looking at specialised sectors of the industry, such as waste collectors, in order to resolve any specific difficulties that they may have; putting in place a permit system to cope with vehicles such as mobile cranes and concrete pumps, and setting out the procedures and practices that will be used in weighing vehicles on the road.
An understandable concern has been about who will enforce the legislation and how severely. Enforcement will be by authorised inspectors appointed under the legislation. They will use approved portable weighing devices to minimise inconvenience and lost time to vehicle operators. They will work to an established manual of procedures which will ensure equity and consistency. While police officers will also have enforcement powers, these are likely to be rarely invoked, authorised inspectors will need to attend with weighing equipment to prove non-compliance.
The procedures and the legislation will contain a number of safeguards to ensure that enforcement is fair. In cases where overloading has occurred, gross breaches will be summonsed through the court where normal defence procedures can be used. Minor breaches will incur on-the-spot fines. These may be challenged in the court, and penalties will be guaranteed to reflect the seriousness of the offence. Great care has been taken to enable the new limits on dimensions and mass to be implemented efficiently and effectively, with minimal disruption to the transport industry. I am pleased to support the Bill on that basis.
MR STEFANIAK (9.09): I support the Bill and commend it to the Assembly. It will serve the interests of the community
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