Opinion: Surveillance of heavy vehicles will save lives on road

It's been labelled Big Brother and an intrusion on our lives – and that’s by the people who support it, writes Des Houghton.

Big Brother drones are coming to spy on Australia’s 900,000 heavy vehicles, with the Federal Government’s National Heavy Vehicle Regulator stepping up surveillance on 200,000 truckies.

And I don’t think that’s a bad thing.

The surveillance trial comes as the Queensland Government moves to dramatically increase its spy cameras to catch car and truck drivers using mobile phones or not wearing their seatbelts.

I’ve also discovered that Queensland will introduce a hi-tech “phone awareness monitor” system that “detects dangerous driving behaviour, with a primary focus on illegal mobile phone use, and triggers a real-time message to drivers encouraging them to change their behaviour”.

A Department of Transport and Main Roads briefing document says the system will provide messaging to drivers, “in either visual, aural or another format (and) effectively ‘nudges’ drivers to change their behaviour and slow down”.

“The Department of Transport and Main Roads understands this solution may currently be in various stages of design or production,” it said.

The behaviour of heavy vehicle drivers is coming under scrutiny.

The cash-strapped State Labor Government will welcome over $273 million expected in speed camera revenue this year, with infringement notices set to top one million for the first time.

Is it any wonder the Government wants to roll out more cameras faster?

Both truck and car safety initiatives have been welcomed by the RACQ.

National Heavy Vehicle Regulator chief Sal Petroccitto confirmed aerial drones and more fixed and mobile cameras would be deployed, and warned they could detect everything from overloaded trucks to balding tyres.

He said trials would begin soon in southern states and run for three months.

With headquarters in Brisbane, the organisation regulates all vehicles in Australia over 4.5 tonnes.

Petroccitto said there were 40,000 road freight businesses in Australia with trucks of 4.5 tonnes or more.

Briefing documents from the regulator say the new surveillance gear will help prevent camera avoidance by drivers who plot a course to avoid fixed cameras.

It is unlawful for truckies to drive more than 12 hours – or 14 with rest breaks – in a 24-hour period, with other restrictions on night driving.

RACQ spokesman Paul Turner

Big Brother cameras and drones are no doubt an infringement on drivers’ liberties; but they are necessary.

You only have to travel the Bruce, Warrego or New England highways to see that heavy vehicles travel cheek-by-jowl with caravans, family sedans, buses, tradies’ utes and motorbikes.

In rural and regional areas motorists share the highways with agricultural machinery, cattle trucks and mining vehicles.

RACQ communications chief Paul Turner does not have a problem with new regulations that make roads safer for his 1.7 million members.

“Big Brother? We already have Big Brother with speed cameras everywhere,” he said.

“Drivers are already very highly regulated.

“Trucks are overrepresented in crashes, and it’s not all the fault of the driver, mind you.

“Recent research showed it was more often the fault of the car driver, but when a truck hits a car the motorists almost always comes off second best.”

Queensland Trucking Association chief Gary Mahon gives the spy cameras grudging support.

“It is a form of intrusion into the lives of private citizens,” he said.

“It’s lamentable they need to intrude, but for safety reasons we won’t oppose it.”

Mahon said 200,000 Queenslanders held some kind of trucking licence.

Queensland Trucking Association CEO Gary Mahon

They may be small trucks used to deliver pot plants or kitchen cupboards, or they may be massive B-doubles hauling cattle.

Says Turner: “Anything that improves the safety of trucks is a good thing for motorists because our road troll is at a ridiculous high.”

He said fatigue and drug use had been a big problem in the past.

“Not all truck drivers do the right thing,” he said.

There was a history of a minority of truck drivers taking stimulants to meet impossibly strict and dangerous deadlines imposed by their freight companies.

However times had changed, and the big freight firms today were more reasonable and had their own safety codes that drivers adhered to.

Big trucking firms kept their drivers safe.

“The RACQ doesn’t have a problem with drones if it makes roads safer,’’ Turner said.

He said the RACQ would prefer to see fewer trucks on the roads and more freight on trains.

Queensland had more trucks on the road than was desirable because of inadequate rail links to ports and airports.

The surveillance trial will initially target trucking danger zones on Victoria, South Australia and Tasmania.

Separately, state police forces are also trialling drones.

Des Houghton is a media consultant and a former editor of The Courier-Mail, Sunday Mail and Sunday Sun

Aerial surveillance drones will be part of the initiative. (File picture)