Ministerial Statement

COMMERCIAL VEHICLE DRIVERS

The Hon. J.J. SNELLING (Playford—Minister for Employment, Training and Further Education, Minister for Science and Information Economy, Minister for Road Safety, Minister for Veterans' Affairs) (14:05): I seek leave to make a ministerial statement.

Leave granted.

The Hon. J.J. SNELLING: I rise today to bring to the attention of the house plans the government has to make fitness to drive guidelines far more rigorous than they are at present for commercial vehicle drivers. These guidelines are necessary to improve safety for all road users. We have a responsibility to ensure that anyone who is issued with, or who holds, an authority to drive a motor vehicle, has the ability, knowledge and fitness to drive.

The medical standards used to determine a person's fitness to drive are contained in the national guidelines Assessing Fitness to Drive Commercial and Private Vehicle Drivers 2003. The national guidelines contain nationally agreed medical standards for the purpose of driver licensing. As the Minister for Road Safety, I authorise the use of the national guidelines in South Australia by causing the publication of a notice in the Government Gazette. While the vast majority of commercial vehicle drivers will be unaffected, the authorisation of the use of the guidelines will allow a tougher regime to be applied on a case-by-case basis, as the Registrar of Motor Vehicles deems appropriate.

The guidelines set standards for private vehicle drivers and a higher set of standards for commercial vehicle drivers. At present, the commercial standards apply only to drivers who hold a class MR licence and above—that is, medium to large truck—or drivers who hold a class C (car) or LR (light rigid truck) and carry passengers for hire and reward, or carry dangerous goods. Under the commercial standard, the licence holder may require an assessment and the opinion of a medical specialist.

The continuing private standard is less stringent, applies to the vast majority of day to day motorists, and requires an assessment in opinion of a general practitioner. Drivers who hold a class C or LR licence are currently assessed using only private standards. This includes drivers who are employed in occupations such as courier drivers and delivery drivers, who spend much longer driving on our roads than the average driver.

Since the details of the matter came to my attention earlier in the year, I have been concerned about potential gaps in the application of the standard. In this tragic crash, a young man was killed by a courier driver who was not subject to the more stringent commercial standards. So, I have been concerned that the current private standards for licence holders, as they apply to commercial drivers who suffer an impairment or medical condition, do not place proper emphasis on the purpose of their driving.

South Australian research conducted in 2005 into medical conditions as a contributing factor in crashes—and that investigated 298 incidents—found that a medical condition was the main causal factor in 13 per cent of the casualty crashes and accounted for 23 per cent of all hospital admissions and fatal crash outcomes. That, combined with the extended hours driven by commercial drivers like courier drivers and delivery drivers, greatly increases the risk of road crashes. It was my view that something needed to be done to address the matter.

The National Transport Commission is reviewing the national guidelines to ensure the standards reflect current medical evidence and best practice, and meet the practical needs of private and commercial vehicle drivers. As part of the review, South Australia has raised the policy concern that the current medical assessment under the private standards for licence holders who suffer an impairment or medical condition, does not place enough emphasis on the nature and purpose of the person's driving patterns.

In support of this policy change, I presented an agenda paper at last Friday's Australian Transport Council's ministerial meeting, seeking support to expand the application of the commercial standards in the national guidelines, to address the risk posed by the commercial driver, rather than the vehicle class being driven. I am pleased to say that ministers from other states and territories supported further investigation of this policy initiative.

South Australia continues to support a national approach to regulatory reform. On this matter however, we are appropriately stepping beyond the national guidelines. The national guidelines that specify that holders of class C and LR driver's licences are assessed under the private standards would not allow for occupational drivers of light vehicles to be assessed using the commercial standards unless they carry public passengers for hire and reward or carry dangerous goods. As the Minister for Road Safety, however, I have the discretion to publish whatever guidelines I deem appropriate by notice in the Gazette. I am pleased to inform the house that South Australia is changing and, as a result, strengthening how the guidelines are applied under our law.

A new Gazette notice that authorises the use of the national guidelines is to be published. The effect of the new Gazette notice will be that, in future, when a commercial driver, like a courier driver or delivery driver, who drives a light vehicle comes to the attention of the Registrar of Motor Vehicles, and should the registrar decide to review that person's fitness to drive, the registrar may require that commercial driver be assessed under the same commercial standards of the national guidelines rather than the private standards.

The registrar will, in the first instance, continue to rely on the fitness to drive assessment of the health professional, operating in accordance with the nationally agreed guidelines. The new option to review any commercial driver of a light vehicle under the commercial standards will only come into effect when the registrar receives further information that leads him to decide that a review is required.

Under section 80 of the Motor Vehicles Act, the registrar may refuse to issue a driver's licence or suspend a person's driver's licence until he is satisfied that the person is fit to drive. Under section 81, the registrar may place conditions on a licence that restricts the circumstances under which the holder may drive, that is, placing conditions on the driver's licence. Any decision made by the registrar in the review of a person's fitness to drive is open to appeal under section 98Z of the Motor Vehicles Act and, subsequently, further appeal to the District Court. I expect that this new policy initiative will result in safer roads for South Australians.