The National Transport Commission is proposing new penalties for offences under the Heavy Vehicle National Law, moving to increase the price penalty for a majority of offences.
It reviewed 349 offences under the HVNL, and will look to increase 50 penalties and decrease 21 penalties, including fatigue and record-keeping penalties faced by drivers.
Amongst the biggest increases will be the doubling of a number of vehicle standards penalties, mass, dimension and loading regulations, and fatigue rules.
HVNL infringement 228(1), ‘Duty of driver to avoid driving while fatigued’ has a proposed indexed increase from $8000 to $26,610. Infringement 231(1) ‘Duty of Driver to avoid driving while unfit’ will carry the same penalty.
For decreasing penalties, that the maximum penalty for a minor fatigue breach for a solo driver operating under standard hours should decrease from $5,300 to $3,980. The infringement notice amount would decrease from $530 to $398.
The penalty for failing to record information immediately after starting work would fall from $8,000 to $5,300. The infringement notice amount would fall from $800 to $530.
The Australian Trucking Association argues that raising penalties relating to fatigue and record-keeping should be reduced, not raised further.
“The very high penalties for minor breaches of the fatigue rules do not make roads safer. Instead, they are unfair and discourage good drivers from participating our industry,” ATA CEO Mathew Munro says.
“The NTC is proposing a sensible rebalancing of penalties across the law. Penalties for minor, often inadvertent, offences would be reduced, while penalties for deliberate offences, such as deception, would be increased.
“In an operating environment where we’ve come to expect that penalties will only go up, it is refreshing to see proposals for relief.
“In combination with greater use of formal warnings and fatigue education, fairer penalties would be an important step in the right direction.”
Consultations on the proposed penalties and the draft legislation close on November 21.
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