Tunnel vision causes traffic chaos

AS traffic backed up after being blocked by a truck on a busy Sydney motorway recently, police had a simple request for the driver: please reverse away.

But the hapless driver had to admit he couldn’t back out of the chaos. Why? He didn’t have the skills to reverse even though he was driving a massive truck into Sydney’s M5 airport tunnel but couldn’t proceed because the vehicle was too big.

The driver, Gary Singh, has reportedly here for six months on a 457 visa. And it’s the increase in incidents such as this that has sparked warnings from the Transport Workers’ Union of the need for proper training.

As traffic backed up behind the truck, scissored across the busy M5 motorway, police had to bring in their own professional driver to extract the vehicle. Police said later the truck driver and company would be fined.

Now, the Transport Workers’ Union is calling on the Immigration Minister to investigate abuse of the 457 visa system where truck drivers are being brought here on temporary foreign working visas, in violation of strict regulations.

TWU National Secretary Tony Sheldon said the incident on the M5 caused major disruption to an important thoroughfare in Sydney.

And similar chaos will take place across the country if drivers without adequate training are at the wheel, he warned.

“This is a very serious issue with huge implication for public safety, given the dangerous nature of trucking,” said Sheldon.

The TWU is calling for industry-wide training for truck drivers following the incident on the M5 on the weekend.

And there are calls for a fund to be set up to prevent more dangerous traffic violations.

The fund would be paid into by all employers along the supply chain in sectors with high rates of fatalities, says the TWU. It would ensure companies are meeting safety obligations and that those at the top of supply chains are being held to account for work carried out for them. The fund would also educate employers on their obligations while training drivers on safety and their rights at work.

And official statistics from the Fair work Ombudsman last year showed one in five migrant workers on 457 visas are not working in the job they are brought in to do or are not being paid the correct salary.

Around 330 people are killed each year nationally in truck-related crashes. This is the reason trucking is Australia’s deadliest job, with drivers 15 times more likely to die than any other profession.