Page 4767 - Week 16 - Wednesday, 28 November 1990
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Heavy vehicles, including buses, have come under increasing scrutiny from the public as a result of recent well publicised crashes. The consequence of those crashes is that road safety legislators are under greater pressure to respond to both a perceived and a very real need to protect the public from heavy vehicles travelling at high speeds.
Speed limiters will be fitted by vehicle manufacturers to all heavy vehicles manufactured from 1 January next year under the requirements of Australian design rule 65/00. I am sure all members of the Assembly will recall that last month legislation was introduced by the Government here and passed to give full ACT legislative authority to the Australian design rules.
The retrofitting of speed limiters to heavy vehicles manufactured from 1 January 1988 will further reduce the number of vehicles on our roads which will be able to exceed 100 kilometres per hour. Combined with retrofitting, the Australian design rule will eliminate the ability of a large number of drivers to grossly exceed speed limits on our highways. This method of control is a very positive contribution to speed reduction and road safety. For heavy vehicles on highways, speed limiters provide the ultimate enforcement of top speeds in preventing the vehicle exceeding the open highway limit.
Excessive speed, particularly in association with driver fatigue, has been a major contributory factor in many crashes involving heavy vehicles. Enforcement methods presently applied not only are costly but also have not proved to be sufficient to control drivers who persist in driving at high speeds.
This Bill is not being proposed without due consideration for the needs of certain groups. There is provision within the Bill to exempt vehicles used solely for urban or short distance work where they are usually unable to achieve a sustained high speed and where the driver fatigue factor is not brought to bear. Exemption is available generally to vehicles travelling no further than 80 kilometres from a depot at which the vehicle is stationed. These vehicles pose far less potential danger to the public than vehicles used for long distance operations and so will be eligible for exemption. This provision conforms with the New South Wales practice.
Fitting good quality speed limiters not only will affect the performance characteristics of the vehicles concerned but also will simply prevent excessive speed. It is expected that many long distance operators will benefit by fuel savings because of the reduced speed capacities of the vehicles concerned. The estimated cost of fitting speed limiters is $1,500 to $3,000, which is likely to be offset over time by reduced running costs.
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