After all of these years, Rod Hannifey’s initiative to save life with green reflectors has received some backing from the powers that be. In this video the National Heavy Vehicle Regulator has come on board and put its support behind Rod’s great idea.
Rod tells the story about his close shave, many years ago, when he came up with the idea of the green reflectors counting down the distance to informal parking bays on highways. He has spent many years telling anyone who will listen about the project and fighting to get some form of official sanction to make this initiative effective.
Over the years, Rod has spent many hours simply parking up at a parking bay and walking back up the road to fit green reflectors counting down to the parking bay. The nearest he has got to official recognition in the past has been a lack of action to stop him doing it or removing his reflectors.
One of the problems is the fact most people don’t understand the problem. Anyone who has driven trucks at night while looking for a parking bay to take a break will be able to understand the issue. If you are driving at 100 km/h, by the time you see a parking bay, if it is not signposted, there is no chancing of pulling a truck up in time. This can lead to a driver having to drive longer than it is safe to do when fatigue starts to hit.
The NHVR has now posted this video on its website and included Sal Petroccitto’s endorsement of Rod’s idea in the video.
By posting the video, the NHVR has reinforced the impression it has been giving in recent years. The attitude of the organisation is to look at any rational solution and back it, if it can demonstrate a positive result.
It’s about time a pragmatic approach to safety in the trucking industry got a good run.
