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Police monitoring trucks on the road between Northport and Auckland found that nearly one in five was unfit for the road and posed a serious risk to the public.
Police checks coincided with a large number of trucks moving between Whangārei and Auckland (file image).
Photo: 123RF
The police checks coincided with an abnormally high number of trucks transporting goods between the two destinations after a large container ship bound for Auckland had to dock at Whangārei.
The trucks were expected to make around 800 additional trips over a week between the two destinations, carrying around 1,200 containers.
The police inspected 534 vehicles and 96 of them failed the inspections.
Eleven trucks had such serious failures that they had to be pulled off the road.
The biggest problem was lighting failures, but there were a lot of tire and brake related failures.
Senior Sgt. Mike Flatt, leader of the commercial vehicle safety team, said in a statement that police were warning trucking companies and drivers of the importance of verifying that their trucks meet a roadworthy standard.
“Trucking companies have a duty of responsibility to all motorists to ensure that their vehicles are safe and do not put their drivers and other members of the public at risk,” he said.
“Truck drivers also have a responsibility to ensure that any trucks they are assigned to drive meet COF standards and should always perform a ‘pre-drive’ check of the vehicle, especially on the brake, tire and lights, etc. “
The police issued 81 infringement notices and 21 written warnings.
