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The NHVR has accepted its first enforceable undertaking (EU) from a Victorian sole trader and farmer after he failed to comply with his vehicle’s mass requirements when transporting potatoes.
An investigation by NHVR’s Safety and Compliance Officers found that on 17 July 2020 the steer axle of the heavy vehicle owned by Gavin Bone weighed 8,850kg – 147% of the permitted mass of 6,000kg.
NHVR Director of Prosecutions Belinda Hughes said this EU demonstrates how this alternative avenue to prosecution can be effective for small operators.
“EUs enable the NHVR to encourage and monitor safer behaviours, to improve safety for all road users,” Ms Hughes said.
“An EU is designed so that instead of paying money in fines its instead spent on improving safety to – it’s available to individual farmers, all the way to multimillion dollar companies.
“In this case, we determined that more safety benefits would be achieved from an EU, for both Mr Bone and the wider farming industry.”
Under the EU, Mr Bone must complete a personalised mass management course and share his learnings with the farming community in a paid advertisement in Seed Potatoes Victoria annual guide.
For more information on mass, dimension and loading and the risks and penalties, visit www.nhvr.gov.au/law-policies/prosecutions/enforceable-undertakings