SPEED SLASH EV EVALUATION WILD WEATHER
New South Wales motorists are getting used to a new road rule that will cost you and your drivers dearly if don ’ t abide by it .
As of September 1 drivers must now slow to 40km / h when passing stationary emergency vehicles — which includes police cars , fire engines and ambulances — displaying red and blue flashing lights .
And the penalty for not doing so will be costly – $ 337 ( or $ 448 in a school zone ) and five demerit points – so the onus is on drivers to take the new rules seriously and consider other drivers while on the road .
“ The new road rule will provide extra protection for all emergency workers and volunteers who respond to crashes and other incidents on our roads ,” Bernard Carlon , head of the NSW Centre for Road Safety said .
“ When you see the blue or red flashing lights on an emergency vehicle stopped on the road , safely reduce your speed so that you are not exceeding 40km / h when you pass .”
The City of Melbourne is leading the way towards an environmentally friendly future through the implementation of nine Nissan Leaf battery vehicles within their fleet .
Data from the council has revealed that since the 26th of July 2012 , the vehicles have travelled over 271,721 kilometres and have saved 28,531 litres of fuel from being expended . Environmentally speaking that has represented a saving of 61,427 tonnes of greenhouse gases .
The reporting also found that a specialised recharging scheme is in place to ensure that all vehicles aren ’ t on charge at the same time – a move designed to reduce the shock to the building ’ s electricity supply . Charging vehicles overnight when peak usage rates are lower has also resulted in significant savings , with regular energy consumption hitting between 40 and 60 kilowatt hours per day .
When it came to the cars themselves the team found that there was no significant deterioration in the vehicle batteries , with the older Leafs in the fleet performing just as well as the newest ones after six years of monitoring .
Bad weather , poor traffic management and inadequate road sealing techniques have been blamed for leaving drivers in Queensland ’ s far north in a sticky bind after road surface lifted and coated their tyres in tar .
Transport and Main Roads Minister Mark Bailey said the events that led to the incident on the Millaa Millaa-Malanda Road in July were “ unacceptable ”.
More than 60 motorists were affected by the incident , with many needing to get their tyres replaced after bitumen lifted on the road . In many cases , the bitumen completely covered vehicles tyres , and authorities were forced to close down the route for a short time .
Mr Bailey said an independent investigation had found weather conditions combined with sealing spray techniques and the makeup of the road surface material were responsible for the event .
A spokesman for Transport and Main Roads said 51 tar damage and 112 stone chip compensation claims had been received to August 27 , with 138 assessed as payable .
22 ISSUE 13 2018 / WWW . AFMA . NET . AU