Unsafe commercial vehicles are endangering thousands of innocent employees, says the car review website, dogandlemon.com.
Editor Clive Matthew-Wilson – who is an outspoken road safety campaigner – says:
“The law is quite clear: a vehicle used for work is a workplace; employers are required to provide a safe workplace and can be prosecuted if they don’t. And yet, death-trap vehicles are still being sold new, and the government does nothing about it.
“For example, the ANCAP crashtests on the Mitsubishi L300, which is currently being offered new in this country, show this vehicle is likely to kill you in an accident.”
After the crash test, Australian crash test scientists rated the Mitsubishi L300 – which has no airbags – ‘very poor’ for safety.
Jim Roberts, a partner at law firm Hesketh Henry, says:
“In New Zealand, under the Health and Safety in Employment Act, vehicles are recognised as a ‘place of work’ and employers have a duty to ensure that they are not exposing their employees to unnecessary hazards. Vehicles are also included in the definition of ‘plant’, meaning that employers have an obligation to ensure that the vehicles they provide are designed, made and maintained so they are safe for employees to use.
“The Department of Labour could well be justified in taking action against employers who put their workers at risk by making them drive vehicles which are unsafe.”
Matthew-Wilson adds:
“The government often blames bad driving for the road toll. However, the fact remains that people who drive safe vehicles tend to survive accidents, whereas people who drive unsafe vehicles don’t. It’s scandalous that thousands of workers are driving death-trap vehicles every day, and are not even aware of the risks they face.”
