Thread: Worlds toughest bridge

Agree with all of that and on topic, someone got stuck in the M5 East Tunnel this morning.

However, in my mate's case, he was unfamiliar with the Brisbane area, trying to find an address for a pick-up, glanced at his street directory and looked up too late to stop before the bridge.

It's the same as pilots with gear up landings, good pilots, checklists and all. Human factors and the unexpected can take out the best drivers and worst cowboys together.

Just my opinion though.

Originally Posted by V8Ian

I was still in primary school, daydreaming about trucks.

Yeah but which repeat was that?

Originally Posted by Blknight.aus

Yeah but which repeat was that?

To lighten up the Thread, hey Ian, where are you OLD fella!!

Originally Posted by Lotz-A-Landies

Then I'm surprised that you would make that comment.

Me too, X2
I drive Heavy Vehicles for a living,
Ive never hit a low bridge but would never throw stones at someone who has!
Imagine driving though a town you've never been through, or trying to navigate your way to a new delivery, very easy to slip on a low Bridge sign..
I live in Castlemaine, goldfields town, lots of low bridges as the station & railway here just turned 150yrs old, one in particular is on the midland HWY & on a bend, poor signage & Leafy green tree branches don't help,
It's had a spate of bad accidents here, one truck nearly rolled on top of a car coming the other way after hitting the bridge, most trucks hit on an angle causing them to roll.
Vicroads have finally decided to upgrade with electronic height warning system, being built as im typing this.
Up until now it was easier to just blame the truck driver (the attitude the driver should know the height of his vehicle)
After so many accidents the penny finally dropped!

When I first got the County, mid 80's. I carefully measured the height, including roof rack... zackly 2.15 metres. saw the height warning at Westcourt shopping centre, Cairns, 2.2 metres... OK! drove into carpark, all ok...NO WAY... they had installed all their flouros, After puting up the height sign!!

LandRover:- the grown man's meccano set

Originally Posted by dick180641

When I first got the County, mid 80's. I carefully measured the height, including roof rack... zackly 2.15 metres. saw the height warning at Westcourt shopping centre, Cairns, 2.2 metres... OK! drove into carpark, all ok...NO WAY... they had installed all their flouros, After puting up the height sign!! ...

Off topic, do others have to resist the urge to duck when they enter a low carpark?

Originally Posted by Ausfree

Don't be surprised, I can read signs and I do manage my fatigue and I am on guard when approaching a low bridge. Let's face it there are a lot of cowboys in the trucking industry and I think they only have themselves to blame if they hit the top of the tunnel. You can't say "oh dear, I was tired and I lost concentration". Fatigue management was put there in the heavy vehicle industry for a reason and if somebody exceeds his/her allotted hours behind the wheel they are cheating their log book and deserve the full force of the law!! If they can't do a simple thing like judge the distance between the height of their vehicle and the bridge they are going under they should not be driving. They are putting other road users lives at risk!!

Here is an extreme case of a cowboy truckdriver, who knew his brakes were faulty when he drove the truck,( it was proven in the subsequent court case) finished up killing somebody, he copped a jail sentence over this and I remember the woman's son being interviewed on TV in tears!!

Runaway truck missed many by centimetres - National - www.smh.com.au

My main point is,if a truckie makes a mistake of any sort, other road users are put at risk. It's not a car he/she is driving it's a heavy vehicle weighing anything from 10tonnes upwards.

As in any industry there will always be bad eggs,

Look at the stats

The report, by National Transport Insurance, analysed more than 300 crashes. It found inappropriate speed for the conditions and fatigue were responsible for 42 per cent of truck accidents. But in eight out of 10 accidents involving a truck and a car, the car driver was at fault.


''Truck drivers are professional drivers, they do it for a living, 99.9 per cent do it very well,'' Mr Edmonds said. ''At this time of year we have other motorists that aren't used to dealing with fatigue and the road conditions, yet they pack up the wagon and drive five or six hours and that can be quite dangerous.''


Accident rate falls even with more trucks on roads

11 foot 8 inches ain't 4.3m


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