Safety Belt Enforcement Programs

• ` Occupant Protection Selective Traffic Enforcement Programs (sTEPs) involve periods of highly visible safety belt law enforcement combined with extensive media support. These programs are a proven method to rapidly change motorists' safety belt use behavior. Successful Occupant Protection sTEPs have been documented in Canada, Europe, and the United States.

• Highly visible enforcement of safety belt laws is a core strategy to increase safety belt use. States and communities have greater success in achieving increased safety belt use when there is strong enforcement of the law, along with effective media support.27 This strong enforcement of safety belt laws sends the message that the State takes safety belt use laws seriously. Ultimately, this leads to greater compliance.

• The Click It or Ticket (CIOT) model has been enormously successful in increasing safety belt use at the community, State, and regional level. This nationwide initiative, a partnership involving NHTSA, the Air Bag & Seat Belt Safety Campaign, and hundreds of law enforcement agencies, increased national belt use by four percentage points in 2003.28 Safety belt use increased again in 2004, reaching an all-time high of 80 percent.

Check mirrors

1. Any reflective surface of a compulsory rear view mirror:


• has a missing section;
• is cracked;
• is deteriorated;
• is obscured;
• where fitted to the right side, does not have a flat surface of at least 150cm2 (it may also incorporate a curved portion).


2. Mirrors are not securely mounted or missing;
3. Any compulsory left side mirror does not have a reflecting surface of at least 150 cm2;
4. Any compulsory mirror does not provide a clear view of the road to the rear of the vehicle.

Visually inspect fuel lines, joints and connections

• where the vehicle body or chassis members do not provide protection for fuel lines under the vehicle, the piping is not shielded or encased in a protective sleeve;

• the sleeving of any fuel line routed under the vehicle is damaged such that the fuel line is exposed;

• any supporting clips (required to be spaced at intervals of 600mm) are missing or do not provide effective support to the fuel line;

• any provision has been made to allow use of the gas fuel for purposes other than as automotive fuel.

Check fifth wheels/turntables

• Where ADR 62 applies, the fifth wheel/turntable does not display the manufacturer’s name/trademark, nominal size (eg 50mm) and the gross mass rating;

• The mating parts of a coupling used to connect a semi-trailer to a towing vehicle allow the semi-trailer to roll to an extent that makes the towing vehicle unstable (eg quick release turntable fitted to a ballrace turntable);

• The top and bottom mounting flanges have insufficient effective fasteners (eg ballrace);

• Fasteners either side of the mounting frame, plate or pivot brackets are insufficient or ineffective;

• Fifth wheel/turntable mounting plate or sub frame assembly securing bolts are missing, broken or loose, or the fasteners are "U" bolts;

• There is movement between the fixed mounting components;

• There is more than 5 mm horizontal movement between:

Check brake components

• Abrasions or cuts on brake hoses penetrate further than the outer protective covering;

• Brake pipes, hoses and connections are cracked, broken, kinked, crimped, damaged by heat or have visible signs of leakage, swelling or bulging;

• Brake drums or discs are not fitted or have missing pieces, or cracks other than short heat cracks inside the drums;

• Drums or discs are worn beyond manufacturers specifications;

• Any caliper, wheel cylinder or master cylinder leaks;

• Linings or pads are contaminated with oil, grease or brake fluid;

• The thickness of the linings or pads is less than the manufacturer’s recommended minimum. If this is not known or is no longer appropriate, the thickness of the linings or pads is less than

Check brake components

• Brake pedals do not have an anti-slip surface across the complete surface;

• Brake pedals or handles are broken or missing;

• Brake control mountings, pivots, cables or links are kinked, loose, broken, excessively worn or binding;

• A ratchet or locking device on a parking brake control does not hold the parking brake in the applied position;

• Park brake control can be released with only one action;

SafeStat

SafeStat (short for Motor Carrier Safety Status Measurement System) is an automated, data driven analysis system designed by the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA). SafeStat combines current and historical carrier-based safety performance information to measure the relative (peer-to-peer) safety fitness of interstate commercial motor carriers and intrastate commercial motor carriers that transport hazardous materials. This information includes Federal and State data on crashes, roadside inspections, on-site compliance review results and enforcement history. SafeStat enables FMCSA to quantify and monitor the safety status of individual motor carriers on a monthly basis and thereby focus enforcement resources on carriers posing the greatest potential safety risk.

The States are required to provide standard, basic information about large truck and bus crashes to FMCSA within 90 days of the crash event, and the results of roadside inspections within 21 days of inspection. However, the completeness, timeliness and accuracy of crash data – and to a lesser extent roadside inspection data – vary from state-to-state. Accordingly, SafeStat’s ability to accurately and objectively assess the safety fitness of individual motor carriers may be inconsistent and not conclusive without additional analysis.