Veteran truck driver will face court after he was caught travelling at 126km/h on the Hume Highway yesterday
August 1, 2012
A lead-foot veteran truck driver will front court and his vehicle will be inspected after he was pinged for speeding yesterday.
New South Wales Police pulled the 62-year-old over at Holbrook on the Hume Highway yesterday after his truck was detected travelling 126km/h in a 100km/h zone.
Officers looked through his work diary and allegedly detected five offences relating to rest hours. He was given a court attendance notice for the offences, as well as an infringement notice for exceeding the speed limit by more than 20km/h.
“Police also issued a defect notice to the truck involved. Checks will be conducted for compliance on the vehicle’s speed limiter,” a statement from NSW Police says.
The driver was caught during the final day of Operation Explorer, which is targeted at the heavy vehicle sector.
“This truck and the fleet involved will now be the subject of an audit by the joint heavy vehicle task force,” Superintendent Stuart Smith says.
Smith has warned the industry that police will continue to work with the Roads and Maritime Services to target trucking so long as vehicles continue to speed in NSW.
“This is for the benefit of road safety not only for motorists across NSW, but for the drivers of such trucks who no doubt may become involved in heavy vehicle crashes given the roadworthiness of the trucks involved,” he says.
There were 431 trucks inspected during the three days of Operational Explorer, with 249 infringement notices issued. Smith says authorities found two trucks with tampered speed limiters.
Police and the RMS have conducted a number of high-profile operations this year. Smith says 1,029 trucks were inspected during operations Overland, Discovery, Marshall and Explorer.
There were 50 instances of defective speed limiters, with a further 465 breaches, defects, and infringements issued for a range of offences.
