Two people are in a stable condition at Lismore Base Hospital after their car was hit by a B-double truck on the Pacific Highway south of Ballina yesterday afternoon.
The car was the last in a line of three vehicles waiting at a stop-go sign ahead of an area of road works at Pimlico.
The impact of the truck created a domino effect, causing three cars to each hit the one in front.
Ballina detectives are investigating the accident, which closed the Pacific Highway for five hours.
No other injuries are believed to have been sustained.
Only 2 days ago, I was on the inside lane of a dual lane highway with the traffic in front slowing down – an obvious hold up of some sort ahead – but the driver of the heavy truck and trailer beside me apparently wasn’t looking (on his mobile maybe?) and as we started braking he didn’t until he suddenly noticed that everyone was stopping. He slammed on his brakes – locked up the trailer wheels and started to skid – and he stopped no more then half a metre behind the family in the car in front of him.
Are all truck drivers a danger? – No, most of them are experienced drivers who get a bit frustrated with car drivers who don’t understand the limits of trucks; BUT when a truck driver does do the wrong thing, over tired, perhaps? the consequences are often tragic. And the fact that they are professional drivers can be a problem with employers demanding often illegal and impossible driving schedules.
I believe a lot of the danger would be reduced if the owners of the goods being carried were also fined – they would very quickly stop demanding impossible timetables, and would quickly avoid the dodgy transport companies.
And we should be doing a lot more to encourage the long distance haulage of goods by rail rather than on the road.
get the trains back on the tracks. at least for freight.
Yet another B-double “accident”!? Our roads are not made for these types of transport. They are a danger to other road users and they are too often run by unprincipled profiteers heedless of the safety of their employees and the general public. It was only the constant bleating lobbying and devious spin of the trucking industry which tricked the government into allowing this highway plague. Important principle of good government is never trust a monkey with the cookie jar.