By Brendan Rees
Casey Council will set up a trailer in Cranbourne East early next month, reminding truck drivers to slow down as Christmas approached.
The council, in partnership with Victoria Police and VicRoads, intends to place a Speed Alert Mobile (SAM) trailer at the intersection of Casey Fields and Berwick-Cranbourne Road after Mayfield Ward Cr Amanda Stapledon raised concerns in September about speeding trucks in this area.
Safer Communities manager Caroline Bell said: “The primary purpose of the SAM trailer is for placement outside of local schools to remind drivers to slow down, with a number of commitments prior to the end of term.”
“The trailer will send a simple message of ’Red Means Stop’,” she said.
She said council believed the location of the trailer would be appropriate as part of an effort to stop trucks from speeding through the nearby traffic lights.
Cr Stapledon mentioned concerning truck incidents she had witnessed such as speeding B-doubles, and a truck not giving way at a roundabout, during a council meeting on Thursday 9 November.
“I’ve just been ringing the truck companies. They’re really, really good. I’m just saying ‘We’re not going to put up with it anymore – you need to tell your drivers to slow down’.”
She said she even spotted a truck “flying along” at more than 100km/h on the South Gippsland Highway – just days after VicRoads permanently reduced the speed limit to 80km/h – after the road claimed the lives of a teenager and her mother outside the Cranbourne Lighthouse Christian College in August.
Casey Highway Patrol Sergeant Pat McGavigan said police across the state would target heavy vehicle drivers in Operation Austrans which starts on Monday 27 November to Saturday 9 December.
“Victoria Police supports the City Of Casey with their concerns for speeding vehicles – all vehicles including trucks, and will take action if detecting speeding vehicles to improve road safety and reduce road trauma.”
Sgt McGavigan said police would continue to target all road users to make the “road network a safer place”.
