BLAME THE TRUCK DRIVER

Mandatory speed limiters coming for US truckers

According to a report from the US Department of Transport, October 1 could see a new motor carrier rule requiring all heavy vehicles to use speed limiters. This is in spite of a recent court ruling declaring speed limiters unsafe.

But a study of traffic flows in America, and most other civilized countries, would quickly show that average truck speeds are considerable less than the average for other vehicles. Truck speed problems are imaginary only.

Trucks travel slower for two reasons: In many places the speed limit is lower for trucks and trucks are incapable of traveling faster on hills, or accelerating rapidly after a slow-down. But most truck drivers would feel safer if they were allowed to go with the flow, complying with uniform speed limits for all vehicle types.

In the USA a truck driver is five times more likely to be killed on the job compared to the average worker and this fact may be unduly influencing the lawmakers. But let’s look at how these truck drivers are killed.

Firstly, they are rarely killed in single vehicle accidents. Most fatal truck crashes include one or more cars. For many years the truck/car crash statistics have shown a 70/30% apportionment of fault against the car driver. But this ratio is not clear-cut because sometimes there may be more than one driver at fault.

Typically, the car drivers in these crashes fall into two categories: First, a confused or inexperienced car driver who, unaware of the danger, just drives inappropriately while close to a truck. Second, is the driver with “small man” syndrome who deliberately drives inappropriately near a truck, or just drives at high speed to prove to one and all that he’s a real man.

In many crashes the truck driver has died trying to avoid an accident created by someone else. But a big rig does not respond well to abrupt changes of direction.

The latest statistics from the USA show that the 70/30 apportionment is now out of date. Rule changes and training have lifted the bar for truckers and they can now claim  80/20 as the norm. Meanwhile, many car drivers still fail to understand the risks they are taking with their own lives and the lives of others.

In many truck/car crashes the car was being driven erratically and even at exceptionally high speed for the conditions. What chance would a trucker have of avoiding a collision with such a vehicle, either going the same way, or in the opposite direction?

All over the world speeding cars have always been a major factor in road crashes. The younger the driver, the worse the problem; they know so much when they know so little. When they are young they can react in a split-second (they believe), so for them it is safe to drive like a bullet (they believe).

Therefore, I propose to throw a spoke in the wheel of the US legislators, who are influenced by voters, who incidentally are mostly car drivers. My suggestion is that speed limiters should only be mandatory in cars driven by inexperienced, young drivers.

I further suggest that compelling a truck driver to travel slower than the limit for other vehicles is a breach of his human rights because it exposes him to unnecessary and avoidable danger.

But my 50 years of professional driving won’t count for anything unless others endorse what I am saying.

DO NOT GO DRIVING!

It's safer to stay home with a good book

Available now from Amazon  or Smashwords

SANTA'S WINGS

The night before Christmas -
Air New Zealand style
Sent in by Dave Findlay

Twas the night before Christmas, and all round the stands,

Not an aircraft was stirring, and no Caravans.

The aircraft were shivering quite stiff on their spots,

With gusts from two-forty at 39 knots.

Operations, had nightmares back home in their beds,

While pilots and broken planes danced round their heads.

And AOC stacking the paperwork up,

Were just about ready to close and lock up.

When the radio lit up with noise and with chatter,

They turned up the volume to find what was the matter.

A voice clearly heard over static and snow,

Called for clearance to land down at Auckland below.

He barked his transmission so lively and quick,

I'd have sworn that the call sign he used was "St. Nick"

He called his position, not too close or far,

"St. Nicholas One cleared via the STAR."

While controllers were sittin', and scratchin' their head,

They phoned AOC, who then wrote down with dread,

A message that was very urgent and dour:

"When Santa pulls in, have him please call the tower."

He landed like silk, and then took Alpha six,

Down Bravo and over to men waving sticks,

He called out to ramp as he came onto blocks,

And ground crew came placing the cones and the chocks.

His put on his hat and then without a sound,

He zipped up his high vis and did his walk round.

He was merry and jolly in his suit of pride,

And he called out “please add in, three twenty a side."

They spoke not a word, but went straight to their work,

Then they closed up the doors, which locked with a jerk.

And all thought as he silently scribed his log,

These reindeer could land in a four hundred fog.

And laying a finger on his push-to-talk,

He called up the tower for clearance and squawk.

“Clark one alpha departure, the southbound direction,

Turn left three-two-zero at pilot's discretion"

He sped down the runway, the best of the best,

"Your traffic's an Airbus, inbound from the west."

Then I heard him proclaim, as he climbed through the night,

"Merry Christmas to all! Go Beyond Tonight!"

Best wishes for the festive season to all who read Peter Blakeborough’s Blog. More posts coming in 2014. Have a good one.

QUEENSLAND BIKERS REBEL

Queensland bikie laws breach international fair trial standards

From Amnesty International:  5 November 2013

Queensland's new bike laws do away with the notion of innocent until proven guilty which could lead to arbitrary detentions and an undermining of the independence of the judiciary.

Amnesty is concerned prosecutions under the new Queensland bikie laws
fail to meet international fair trial standards.

Mandatory sentences

The laws give mandatory sentences of up to 25 years in addition to a standard sentence where a person is accused of being a member and/or officer of a criminal association.

“The laws passed are aimed at cracking down on ‘outlaw bikie gangs’ but potentially affect a wider group of people, including those that aren’t affiliated with bikie groups, something the Queensland government has failed to acknowledge,” said Michael Hayworth, Amnesty International Australia spokesperson.

“We share concerns already voiced by the Queensland Law Society, Australian Lawyers for Human Rights and Queensland Council for Civil Liberties."

Broad laws cover all associations not just bikies

“One of the major issues we have is the language of the Act is so broad that in Amnesty International’s experience, they are open to abuse,” said Hayworth.

The laws focus on associations of people which include corporations, unincorporated associations, clubs or leagues or any other group of three or more people whether the group is legal or illegal.

Covering more than just ‘bikie gangs’ the laws define people as ‘participants’ in associations where they are a member, sought to be a member, attended more than one meeting or participated in any other way in the affairs of the association.

There is no mention of bikes or criminal activity in the definition of association.

A participant is deemed to be a ‘vicious lawless associate’ when they commit a declared offence while they are participating in the association.

The laws reverse the burden of proof, forcing those accused of being ‘vicious lawless associates’ or ‘office bearers’ of the association to prove that they are not participants in criminal associations. This severely undermines the right to be presumed innocent until proven guilty that all Queenslanders enjoy.

Michael Hayworth, Amnesty International Australia spokesperson

The difference here is that the individual must prove that the association doesn’t exist for the purposes of engaging in declared criminal offences.

A ‘vicious lawless associate’ is then sentenced to 15 years jail on top of the sentence they receive for the declared offence.

If the person is an officer of the association and cannot prove otherwise they are liable to a further ten years.

Guilty until proven innocent?

“The laws reverse the burden of proof, forcing those accused of being ‘vicious lawless associates’ or ‘office bearers’ of the association to prove that they are not participants in criminal associations,” Hayworth said.

“This severely undermines the right to be presumed innocent until proven guilty that all Queenslanders enjoy.”

The combination of the broad definitions and the requirement for the accused to prove their innocence makes any sentence under these new laws fundamentally unfair .

Arbitrary detention

“Along with a right to be presumed innocent until proven guilty, everyone has the right to liberty. But these laws turn this concept upside down.”

This means the state can only put someone in prison (and therefore remove their liberty) when they have proved beyond a reasonable doubt that that person is guilty of a recognized criminal offence.

The changes to the bail laws mean that courts have little option but to refuse bail to those accused of participating in criminal organisations, unless the person demonstrates reasons that they should not be in jail.

“There are two problems here: (1) the burden of proof is reversed, meaning the accused person has to prove they should not be in custody rather than the state proving they should be in jail; and (2) people have the right not to be in prison, even before a trial, unless it is proven to be necessary,” Hayworth warned.

Pre-trial detention under these circumstances could potentially be arbitrary and inconsistent with the most basic standards of human rights law.

Interference with the judiciary

“The unfairness of trials, arbitrary detention and attacks on the presumption of innocence are not the fault of the courts. They are a direct result of the government’s attempts to crack down on criminal associations.

“These laws and the government’s statements on cases before the courts represent a significant overreach of parliamentary and executive power.

“Amnesty International is calling for the legislation to either be reversed or completely overhauled to address these serious breaches of human rights,” Hayworth added.

http://www.amnesty.org.au/news/comments/33255/

From the Queensland Government website:
New laws target criminal gangs
New laws have been introduced targeting the illegal activities of criminal gangs, including criminal bikie gangs, in Queensland. The reforms introduce new offences, increased penalties, enhanced powers for Police and the Crime and Misconduct Commission and stricter bail laws.

About the reforms

The package of reforms includes the Vicious Lawless Association Disestablishment Act 2013 (PDF) ( https://www.legislation.qld.gov.au/LEGISLTN/ACTS/2013/13AC047.pdf ), the Tattoo Parlours Act 2013 (PDF) ( https://www.legislation.qld.gov.au/LEGISLTN/ACTS/2013/13AC046.pdf ) and the Criminal Law (Criminal Organisations Disruption) Amendment Act 2013 (PDF) ( https://www.legislation.qld.gov.au/LEGISLTN/ACTS/2013/13AC045.pdf ).

The new Vicious Lawless Association Disestablishment Act 2013 (the Act) provides strong mandatory sentences for members and associates of criminal gangs who commit serious offences as part of their participation in a gang, such as a criminal bikie gang. A new mandatory sentencing regime will be complemented by the ability of the court to reduce sentences where an offender cooperates with law enforcement.

Through significant mandatory terms of imprisonment and the motivation of sentence reduction for cooperative offenders, the Act will target individuals who offend with the support and encouragement of a criminal gang. This, in turn, will aim to seriously disrupt the gang as an organisation.

Limiting the activities of criminal gangs

The Tattoo Parlours Act 2013 will ban members of criminal organisations and their associates from owning, operating or working in body art tattoo parlours. The Act introduces a new occupational licensing and regulatory framework. This will ensure that people authorised to operate in the Queensland tattoo industry have been subject to rigorous identification and probity requirements.

Amendments have also been made to liquor legislation to prevent members of certain prescribed criminal gangs from entering or remaining at licensed premises while wearing items aligned with a criminal organisation (such as bikie gang patches or club colours).

Changes to the criminal law

The Criminal Law (Criminal Organisations Disruption) Amendment Act 2013 contains a range of criminal gang-targeted amendments, including the creation of new offences, increased penalties for existing offences and increased police powers. New offences include:

• three or more members of a criminal gang (including those listed by regulation), being together in a public place
• a member of a criminal gang being at a banned location, such as a criminal bikie gang clubhouse, or banned event
• a member of a criminal gang recruiting, or attempting to recruit, another person to the gang.

Increased penalties include:

• a mandatory minimum penalty of one year’s imprisonment for a member of a criminal gang who commits a serious assault on a police officer acting in execution of the officer’s duty
• increasing the mandatory minimum penalty for evading police to $5,500 or 50 days of actual imprisonment; or for an offender who is a member of a criminal gang, $11000 or 100 days of actual imprisonment
• increasing the maximum penalty for the offence of affray to seven years imprisonment with a mandatory minimum six months of actual imprisonment where the offender is a member of a criminal gang
• automatic minimum three month driver licence disqualification following conviction of one of the new offences or the new aggravated affray offence
• automatic motor vehicle confiscation and crushing following conviction for one of the new offences, the new aggravated affray offence, or the new aggravated evade police offence where the offence was committed in relation to the motor vehicle. This will include where the vehicle is used to drive to or from the place where the offence is committed.

The changes include amendments to enhance police powers:

• Impoundment laws have been expanded to target the motor vehicles of criminal gangs.
• Existing powers to require name and address and to search without warrant will be extended where the person concerned is known or suspected to be a member of a criminal gang.

Changes to bail laws impose additional conditions on members of criminal gangs:

• Where the defendant is a member of a criminal gang, the defendant will be in a show cause situation – for any offence.
• Where the defendant is a member of a criminal gang, and bail is granted, the bail undertaking must include a condition that the defendant surrenders their passport; and they will be detained until compliance with the condition.

Additional powers for the CMC to allow hearings to be conducted to gather intelligence about criminal organisations; and to investigate or hold hearings to respond to an immediate threat to public safety from criminal organisations. A participant in a criminal organisation will not be able to rely upon a threat to his personal safety or property to refuse to answer a question or produce a document at a hearing that involves a criminal organisation. The punishment for contempt at a CMC hearing, which will apply to all witnesses, will be mandatory imprisonment (and for a second or third offence a mandatory minimum of 2 ½ years and 5 years respectively) if a witness refuses to take an oath, answer a question or produce a stated thing or document at the CMC hearing.

Report a crime

Anyone with information regarding the activities of criminal gangs can report it anonymously to Crime Stoppers ( http://www.qld.crimestoppers.com.au/home.jsp ) on 1800 333 000 (24 hours, 7 days).

Cash rewards ( http://qld.crimestoppers.com.au/crime/campaigns/criminal_motorcycle_gangs.jsp ) of up to $50,000 are available if you provide anonymous information to Crime Stoppers that helps police to arrest a member of a criminal gang.

More information on reporting a crime ( http://www.qld.gov.au/law/crime-and-police/report-to-police/report-a-crime ).

Contact

Report information anonymously through the community organisation Crime Stoppers ( http://www.qld.crimestoppers.com.au/home.jsp ) on 1800 333 000 or online ( https://qld.crimestoppers.com.au/crime/report_cmg_information.jsp ).

• Vicious Lawless Association Disestablishment Act 2013 (PDF) ( https://www.legislation.qld.gov.au/LEGISLTN/ACTS/2013/13AC047.pdf )
• Tattoo Parlours Act 2013 (PDF) ( https://www.legislation.qld.gov.au/LEGISLTN/ACTS/2013/13AC046.pdf )
• Criminal Law (Criminal Organisations Disruption) Amendment Act 2013 (PDF) ( https://www.legislation.qld.gov.au/LEGISLTN/ACTS/2013/13AC045.pdf ).

Updated 6 November 2013

Peter’s Piece

Amnesty International is a long-standing, highly respected world-wide organization. Their opinion should be listened to and acted upon.

The State of Queensland, on the other hand, has a long history as a police state and a place where jobs for the boys, rolls of cash for the back pocket and oppression of minorities are a way of life.

So here is my suggestion for amending this draconian law:

(a)  Delete ‘bike’ and insert ‘government limo.’

(b)  Delete ‘criminal organization’ and insert ‘political party.’

(c)  Delete ‘known criminal’ and insert ‘member of parliament.’

(d)  Delete ‘gang clubhouse’ and insert ‘parliament house.’

(e)  Delete ‘prison term’ and insert ‘term of natural life in Antarctica.’

Problem solved. 

VOTE 

FREDDIE FUDDPUCKER

FOR 

QUEENSLAND PREMIER

Available now as an E-book.

Click for a good laugh: 

Freddie Fuddpucker

TRUCK SAFETY

Comment on new USA truck driver rest period rule

Posted by Sandi Soendker from Landline Magazine (Owner Operator Independent Driver Association), Grain Valley, Missouri

OOIDA (Owner Operator Independent Driver Association)  Life Member Bob Esler of Taylor, Mich., wrote a letter this week to FMCSA Administrator Anne Ferro, regarding the 30-minute rest period rule that went into effect July 1, 2013, with the agency’s new hours-of-service rules. It’s a great letter and we are feeling the need to share it.

Dear Administrator Ferro,

I noticed with interest a comment that was attributed to you regarding the studies that were done that said this was a good idea. You were quoted as saying something to the effect of “we did the best lab studies available” before this rule was implemented. In medicine before new drugs are allowed there are lab tests and then it is tested on humans before final approval. Where was the human testing on this rule? I have not seen or heard any reports of such.

 

A truck driven by Peter in 2001 in the US

You might say I have been doing my own research since 1968 on driver fatigue. That is when I entered the industry as a driver. And I am still at it. My studies have concluded that when I get tired I take a nap or shut down for the night. Sometimes when I get up, I can go all day. Then there are days when I can only make it two hours. No rule you folks make will ever change that.

This rule supposedly was done in the guise of public safety. All you folks have succeeded in doing is making drivers more aggressive on the road. Remember the old TV game show called “Beat the Clock”? That is what trucking has become today, a game to “Beat the Clock.”

Drivers will do all they can to make up for lost time because that is their living. Lost time is lost wages.

Here are some more examples of potential problems.

·                     Parking:  Drivers will run to the limit before trying to find a place to park for their 30-minute break. Off ramps, shoulders of the road, and rest areas (if you can find one open) will be prime targets.

·                     Oversize loads: They need all the daylight they can get. This is especially critical in the winter months when daylight is short. Finding a safe place to park for their rest period could be tough. Plus short daylight hours in the winter do not give the driver a full 11 driving hour day and you want him to take 30 minutes of that for a break.

·                     Law enforcement: This 30-minute rule gives them another excuse for probable cause to stop a driver to check for compliance. Plus write citations where drivers park on the shoulders and ramps.

·                     Just-in-time delivery: This is especially crucial in automotive industry. Car plants may have to adjust their production schedules. Did you folks consider that cost in your “lab work?”

 There is something FMCSA has not figured out. The trucking industry has been trying to tell you this for years and for some reason it falls on deaf ears. Driver fatigue mainly comes from sitting around and doing nothing at docks waiting to be loaded or unloaded.

Nothing (this includes driving) fatigues a driver more than sitting around. A perfect example of this is how you feel after sitting for a period of time in a doctor’s waiting room. Ever notice the yawns and nodding heads? Drivers get the same way sitting and waiting. Until this issue is addressed by FMCSA, this 30-minute rule is a waste of time. This not only applies to the driver but the whole trucking industry as well.

Remember I mentioned the old game show “Beat the Clock”? The games have begun.

Meanwhile, back to my fatigue studies.

Sincerely,

OOIDA Life Member Robert Esler

Taylor, Mich.

More in Landline Magazine: http://landlinemedia.blogspot.co.nz/

Peter’s Piece

I can understand Robert Esler’s concern. This is a new rule replacing one that permitted drivers to drive ten hours straight without getting out of the seat. Now they are required to cut that in half. There is bound to be resistance.

But new rules always meet resistance. That’s part of life. And that must surely be better than the old rule which must have been part of death on countless occasions.

Most developed countries have a similar rule for professional drivers. In New Zealand, where I’ve done most of my 50 years of professional driving, the rule is a 30 minute break after not more than five and a half hours of continuous driving. It has been that way for as long as I can remember. And it works.

Robert, in other industries people strive for rules that allow a break every two hours. Why do truckers have to be different? Yes, let the customer wait. They had the option to order the consignment dispatched earlier.

But don’t get bored sitting idle for thirty minutes. Get some exercise and walk around the rig checking the load, tires and air hoses. Take the opportunity to do a fluid recycle – input and output – after five hours instead of ten. You may live longer and enjoy better health as a result. You will certainly spend less time in the doctor's waiting room.

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