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Regulator releases results of Operation Omega

The National Heavy Vehicle Regulator (NHVR) has released the results of its Christmas holiday period safety campaign, Operation Omega.

Working in partnership with police across Australia, the NHVR on-road officers conducted 4524 inspections during a two-week period across New South Wales, Queensland, Victoria, South Australia and Tasmania, with the aim of keeping the roads safe during the busiest time of year.

Of the total intercepts conducted by NHVR officers, 182 resulted in fatigue-related compliance action, with fatigue offences occurring at a higher rate during night-time hours despite there being less vehicles on the road, said NHVR’s Chief Operations Officer Paul Salvati.

“Ninety-seven offences were detected during these intercepts for drivers exceeding their allowable work hours, or not taking adequate periods of rest, some recording false or misleading work diary entries,” Salvati said.

“Seventeen of these offences were classified as critical fatigue breaches, the most severe fatigue-related violation, each presenting the highest risk of a driver causing a deadly crash, risking their life, or someone else’s.”

Salvati said NHVR officers undertook their usual inform, educate and enforce approach to compliance, providing education to drivers in more than 1000 of the intercepts conducted, accounting for almost 300 hours of roadside education during the two weeks.

“At the NHVR, we do not undertake ‘blitzes’, but rather focus our operations as an opportunity to inform and educate drivers ensuring they understand how to meet their safety obligations with enforcement only used as a secondary action where required,” Salvati stressed.

“Work diary and fatigue-related education was provided in 623 of the intercepts conducted during Operation Omega, with the aim of creating a lasting impact on compliance and preventing potential fatigue-related incidents from occurring in the future.”

However, Salvati added that while the NHVR prioritises education, officers don’t hesitate to enforce the Heavy Vehicle National Law for those intentionally doing the wrong thing.

“Unfortunately, we did detect 12 recidivist operators, with those companies receiving multiple fatigue-related offences during the two weeks,” he said.

“Companies must ensure their drivers are fit for work and aren’t driving tired – those that don’t, are putting other people’s lives at risk.

In addition to the fatigue-related compliance, there were 742 intercepts with one or more mechanical defects identified throughout Operation Omega, with 1477 defect components across all states – 185 of them major.

“With Australia tragically recording its highest road toll in over 10 years in 2024, operations like this one are critical to improving road safety,” Salvati said.

“Last year, there were 1300 lives lost on our roads, with 179 of these lives lost in crashes involving a heavy vehicle – this is devastating and entirely preventable.

“I would like to remind drivers and operators to remain vigilant when it comes to adhering to work and rest requirements – this is critical to reducing road trauma, with every life lost on our roads also representing a family and a group of loved ones that have been forced to go through unimaginable grief.”

Salvati said the NHVR is also urging drivers to complete daily safety checks of their vehicle, to ensure it is safe and ready for the journey.

“No one should be killed or injured on our roads – we all need to focus on safety and reduce this preventable road trauma in 2025.”

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