Here is another prime example of the trucking industry being painted as the bad guy, at the same time as showing unrelated footage very different from the reported incident. The accident was tragic, a dog trailer disconnected on a bend near Wodonga and hit two cars killing three people. It couldn’t get any worse, but it does.
We have come to expect better from SBS, but are sadly disappointed. The news editors automatically link the accident with the Cootes crash at Mona Vale last year. This is unfair and a long bow to draw. Evidence of poor maintenance compliance has been inferred in the investigation of Cootes.
There is no evidence of dysfunctional maintenance regimes in the BP fleet in the wake of this tragic event. If Vic Roads are going over the BP fleet and found seven ‘notices for maintenance’. If they went over any fleet with a fine tooth comb they could unearth that many.
For SBS to tie in footage of last year’s Mona Vale crash implies some real wrongdoing, which many in the industry believe was not in evidence in the BP fleet, is wrong. There is no balance here, the truckies are just bad guys, and that’s it according to the report.
Along comes the TWU spokesperson with the usual mention of the word ‘carnage’ to ensure inclusion in the report. None of his criticism is relevant or constructive, just a generally negative swipe at trucking operators, with no explanation.
The video below shows the ABC take on events. The TWU line gets a good run here, but at the end TWU Acting National President Michael Kaine makes the same point expounded in Diesel News last week. The authorities are reactive to disaster not proactive in finding solutions.