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My proposals would have prevented accidents: Fox

Linfox founder uses recent accidents involving trucks as justification to restrict them to one lane and a 90km/h speed limit

By Ruza Zivkusic-Aftasi | May 23, 2013

Linfox founder Lindsay Fox has used radio to claim recent accidents involving trucks would have been prevented if his proposals to limit the vehicles to one lane and 90km/h were in place.

During his appearance on 774 ABC Radio in Melbourne yesterday, Fox told listeners the accident on the Bolte Bridge in Melbourne where a driver fell about 20 metres from his truck cabin after clipping a car would not have happened if the lane restriction was in place.

Along with advocating the installation of black boxes in trucks, Fox has been campaigning for speed and lane restrictions as measures to improve road safety.

“We have a huge problem with trucks taking up three lanes on a freeway and doing that creates cars weaving in and out,” Fox says.

“If they were all in the left lane that wouldn’t have happened.

“If they were all in the left lane in the (Burnley) tunnel, the accident there that stopped the city on a previous occasion wouldn’t have happened. They should do 10km/h less than whatever the speed limit is.”

Fox also touched on driver shortages, a problem afflicting many transport operations across the country.

“We are short of a lot of drivers, particularly well-trained ones to look after road trains,” he says.

“We have 250 road trains and we do something like 860 million kilometres a year and we can’t get enough people.”

Fox earlier this year lamented under-investment in the road network, and he continued his criticism of governments.

“There is no long-term planning and this is one of the greatest necessities we need,” he says.

“I pay about $2 million a week excise on my fuel and that money was allegedly (meant) to go into roads and freeways.”

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