TRUCK drivers driving down the Roelands Hill are losing their licenses and their livelihoods because of an unfair legal technicality.
This is the view of prominent Bunbury lawyer Michael Joubert who has been fighting a special heavy vehicle law in the West Australian Supreme Court.
Six truck drivers were charged for speeding down the Collie hill by South West police in September 2013.
The notorious hill is signposted as 100 kilometres an hour for traffic and as a 40 kilometre an hour zone for all vehicles with a gross combination mass of 22.5 tonnes or more – the measurement used to determine the total weight a truck can carry and tow.
But Mr Joubert told the Bunbury Mail many truck drivers did not realise that they must abide by the 40 kilometre speed if their vehicle is classed as having a GCM greater than 22.5 tonnes, even if they have no load.
“Irrespective of whether the vehicle is laden or not, if the vehicle has a GCM more than 22.5 tonnes the vehicle is classed as a heavy vehicle and the driver must obey all heavy vehicle road signs,” he said.
“This applies even if the vehicle has been modified and can never carry anything near that weight.”
Bunbury truckie Ian Angus was one of the six men charged.
He told the Bunbury Mail last year that with 29 years of truck driving experience, he would never deliberately speed because he knows the dangers of driving trucks.
A second driver Kain William Cudby said the signs were so confusing they “might as well be written in Chinese.”
In Bunbury Magistrates Court in January, Magistrate Michelle Pontefix found the men guilty of reckless driving – judging them to be more than 45 kilometres over the speed limit.
The decision was appealed by Mr Joubert in the Supreme Court.
Last week the court handed down its judgement – finding the original decision to be correct despite being critical of the law.
Member for Collie Preston Mick Murray wrote to the transport minister in 2013 to seek clarification on the law and for new signage to be installed in a bid to clarify the situation.
The response from the minister’s office said the signage was appropriate and it was the responsibility of the truck driver to be aware of the vehicles GCM.
“While the onus is on the driver but if it is confusing then the minister should be sitting down with the appropriate user groups and working with them to make sure the issue is very clear,” he said.
A person who drives a motor vehicle at a speed exceeding the speed limit by 45 kilometres or more faces a maximum penalty of a nine months imprisonment, a $6000 fine and a loss of license for not less than six months.
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