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Call for stringent safety measures in trucks

Horrific road accidents will increase if regulation of truck drivers and the roadworthiness of vehicles are not improved — with Ramadan set to be a particularly dangerous time, say members of the transport industry.

Key issues regarding truck and commercial transport safety such as systemic truck overloading, in the light of a recent spate of road accidents in the region including the country’s worst, were discussed at the third Automechanika Dubai Media Roundtable, organised by German trade fair organisers Epoc Messe Frankfurt on Tuesday.

Al Habtoor Motors group parts manager Derek Skehan said the UAE’s biggest road accident, in which 23 workers were killed and 23 injured in Al Ain when a truck collided with a bus carrying workers in February, may have been avoided if more stringent measures and regulations were in place.

The problem was two-fold, he said. Better quality control on parts was needed to ensure vehicles were roadworthy, but “a lot of it is (also) down to driver training.”

“Some of these trucks are loaded up to 40 to 50 tonnes, and I don’t know if these drivers are trained (to operate) a loaded vehicle. The characteristics in handling are completely different.”

An investigation into February’s accident showed the truck driver was carrying 75 tonnes of concrete stones, did not adhere to the speed limit, did not maintain a safe distance from the bus moving ahead on the same lane, and failed to apply the brakes in time.

Intertruck LLC business manager Hans van der Spek said four out of five trucks in the country were “big time” overloaded, and while there are some in-company training driving institutes, loaded vehicles are not used to train drivers.

Overloading could lead to disastrous consequences arising from damaged axles or shifting loads.

“If you look at this country, 80 per cent of the trucks are over-loaded — and not slightly overloaded, but big time. And you don’t see systems in place like (Antilock Braking System or Electronic Braking System). Although we have supreme roads and infrastructure, most of the vehicles are still on air-springs (while) overloading. Overloading should be stopped and Dubai police should enforce new rules.” This was ordinarily done by the company to save money on the number of trips made, van der Spek said.

“(If they stop overloading) the number of trucks on Dubai’s roads will triple.”

There were also no regulations in the UAE around the maximum number of hours drivers could work, and recording devices were not used, he said.

Coming up to Ramadan, the worst part of the year for driving especially when held in summer, this would be a problem.

While office staff worked until 2pm because of the difficult conditions, “these guys (were) still on the road,” he said.

And these were drivers who had not eaten all day, were drinking minimal amounts, and then often staying up until 2am to break fast and socialise.

“One of the other major contributors to the high rate of accidents was the roadworthiness of vehicles, and in particular, the poor condition of tyres.”

Almost half of truck-drivers were owner-operators and would be looking for the cheapest prices available for parts, but there were no quality standards or checks around these.

sarah@khaleejtimes.com