vehicle
safety
Damn: This is how the system harms the weak link in the mechanism
Break the law or get fired, this is the choice facing thousands of truck drivers who are required to overload.
The state is trying to fight, but not the right people
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Trucks
truck
safety
Accidents
police
Israel Police
Walla! Car
Tuesday, 24 August 2021, 15:00 Updated: 15:20
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Truck drivers who have talked to us have two choices - break the law and risk a fine, revocation or, God forbid, cause an accident or lose their job.
The first has a chance and a risk, the second is certain - they are forced time and time again to choose the first.
"Understand, I'm breaking the law, there's no question that I'm a traffic offender because I'm loading the truck beyond what is allowed, but what choices do I have? "I'm smart, but disciplined. I don't like being smart in my company."
These are the words he tells Walla Car, a truck driver who is forced to break traffic laws that define the maximum weight he is allowed to carry in a truck.
This driver, like many others, seems to have no choice: the employer who wants to maximize his profits demands that the truck be loaded beyond what is allowed and leaves the driver one choice - either to agree to take the risk involved, or to look for another employer.
And you'd be surprised, this is not a private case - far from it: During the collection of material for the article, we talked to a number of drivers employed by different companies, all of whom stated that they were forced to bend under the illegal guidelines, for fear of escaping employment and finding themselves unemployed.
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"Overload rate also reaches 150 percent above the allowable" warn the Association of Leaders and Drivers (Photo: Reuven Castro)
Bombs weighing 40 tons
Overloading is one of the most significant risks for a road accident and dozens of accidents, some of them fatal, have occurred as a result over the past few years.
The frequency of the offense should be appalling to any driver traveling near a truck.
According to green light data, about 15% of heavy vehicles travel with a weight higher than allowed.
These are no less than 1,152 vehicles that were inspected, while it was found that in 170 of them, a significant weight deviation was recorded.
According to the data, 3.5% of the vehicles weighed were found to be overloaded by over 15% of the allowable (40 vehicles).
If I have enough of these statistics, according to data from the Council of Leaders and Drivers in Israel, over the past year the phenomenon has expanded. "We identify an increase in the use of four-axle supports for the transport of general cargo, even though by law those supports are intended solely for the transport of excess cargo. Gabi Ben Harush, chairman of the council. According to him, the rate of overloading often reaches a range of over 150% of what is allowed, which makes those trucks lead to a ticking time bomb. Lengthens and the ability of the same truck to brake abruptly - decreases significantly.Secondly, the driver's ability to control the vehicle also dives, and the risk increases sevenfold when driving downhill.Those must be added the greater mass that in the event of an accident is a significant damage multiplier.
Taking care of drivers?
Tomorrow the owner will bring another one in his place (Photo: Reuven Castro)
Driver to hell
The dangerous phenomenon is well known to the Israel Police, which enforces the offense of overweight driving, among other things by placing weights on the side of the road and stopping vehicles for sudden checks, or transporting detained vehicles to places where there are built-in weights for loading quarries.
Also, often, the police check the delivery note of the vehicle and compare it to the total allowable weight indicated on the vehicle license.
So if so, where's the problem?
Well, if a weight deviation is indeed found, the bulk of the fire is absorbed by the driver held as the responsible party, and not his employer.
Adv. Eliran Blutman, an expert in traffic law, explains that the indictment booklet determines the degree of punishment according to the degree of deviation from the permissible weight:
In the event of a deviation of up to 10 percent of the total weight of the vehicle - a fine of NIS 500 and 6 points will be imposed on the driver.
When it comes to a weight that exceeds 10 percent to 14.99 percent above the allowable - it is about 1,000 shekels fine and 8 points.
And this is actually the point that separates punishment in the form of a fine and points for a summons since a total weight violation exceeds 15 percent to 24.9 percent above the allowable - then the driver will already receive a summons, registration of 8 points and giving the police officer whether to disable the vehicle.
In the case of a total weight of over 25%, this is already a summons, accompanied by 10 points, and in addition, a risk of disabling the vehicle and imposing an administrative disqualification on the 30-day driver's license, which is also defined as a "clover case" (classification of serious and life-threatening offenses).
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And what about the employer's share? It is clear to everyone, and also to the traffic police, that whoever makes the decision what to load and how much, is not the driver, who is subject to the employer's authority and instructions. Indeed, according to section 20 of the Transport Services Law, "a holder of a driver's license must supervise and do everything possible to prevent an offense from the offenses listed in a commercial vehicle, by the driver of the commercial vehicle, when providing the transportation service." Another section of the law further stipulates that "cargo delivery will also check, when loading cargo on a commercial vehicle, the adjustment of the weight of the cargo to the weight of the cargo allowed to be transported in the vehicle under the vehicle license."
So responsibility for employers - there is, but enforcement, almost no - "The state prefers to toughen enforcement in front of drivers, a significant proportion of whom are pushed to the wall and forced to do so, but does not exhaust the law with their senders. "These are isolated cases in which legal proceedings have been instituted against the employers," notes Adv. Eliran Blutman.
It's time for the state to stop talking in two voices, when on the one hand it weighs heavily on the drivers and on the other hand treats employers with a disturbing slackness "Ben Harush also points out that enforcement on employers is minor to non-existent" The SG ".
"Selective enforcement perpetuates the problem" Adv. Eliran Blutman (Photo: PR)
Between the SG and the officer
One of the main points of contention among those involved in the industry is the degree of responsibility that traffic safety officers have for overloading the truck.
The Council of Carriers and Drivers in Israel states that there is a clear responsibility, which stems from section 19 of the Transportation Services Law, which states that "an offense under section 18A has been committed. "The offense was committed without his knowledge and that he took reasonable measures to prevent the offense" The plant or is under its control, which may endanger traffic and any defect in the drivers 'work and behavior on the road, as well as any defect in the drivers' health. "
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Who is the vicarious responsibility for and why is it not enforced (Photo: Reuven Castro)
On the other hand, the Association of Traffic Safety Officers believes that there is no place for imposing liability on them regarding the liability of others defined by law. According to Shimon Sudai, Chairman of the Association of Professional Safety Officers in Transportation: According to him, "nowhere in Regulation 585 is the matter of the control of cargo and / or weight mentioned." In this regard, Sudai refers us to Article 19 Executive Responsibility, according to which, the role of the safety officer in this case, is to make sure that you have given drivers guidance on the harnessed manner and not to allow for weight deviation. Accordingly, he notes, the person actually in charge is two functionaries defined in the Transport Services Act: a manager of a transport office or a work sorter. ""Since the safety officer is not supposed to be with the driver in the loading area at all times - the responsibility is on the part of the director of the transport office and on the part of the driver to make sure not to go out with exceptional weight," he adds.
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Boycotted the truck?
Not bad, we will rent otherwise (Photo: Reuven Castro)
Laughing at the boycotts
Another disturbing aspect of the whole story is Ben Harush's claim that the confiscation of the vehicle does not intimidate the employer and does not fulfill its purpose in the deterrent aspect. ".
Indeed, when we spoke to the owner of a dirt transport company about the threat posed by overloading - he was not overly excited "not to misunderstand, confiscating a truck, or shutting it down for a month, is a blow, but it will not eliminate my activity, but will create pain for me "A head and a certain financial loss. What I do is just rent another truck, that it erodes my profit but still, does not kill my business."
Following the findings in the article, we turned to the Ministry of Transportation and the Israel Police to understand what was being done in the field.
The questions were simple, what actions does the Ministry of Transport take in front of safety officers whose truck was found to be overloaded, have there been such cases in the past year and more.
We asked the police how many indictments have been filed against truck owners or those responsible for overloading them for overloading in the last 5 years and whether criminal action has been taken against traffic safety officers who have not performed their duties.
No response was received from either party, and perhaps that is the conclusion.
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