‘Slow Down For Breakdown’ To Keep Roadside Workers Safe
A new education campaign is calling on drivers to ‘slow down for a breakdown’ ahead of a new law to better protect roadside service workers.
From Monday 19 May motorists will need to reduce their speed to 25km/h when travelling past stationary tow trucks, vans and other breakdown services vehicles which are stopped at the roadside and displaying flashing amber lights.
The reduced speed limit will also apply when passing bollards or cones that have been set up around a vehicle by a breakdown services worker.
The education campaign urges drivers to slow down when passing a breakdown scene so that roadside workers, stricken motorists and passengers can get safely back on the road.
Breakdown services workers are particularly vulnerable on high-speed arterial roads, with poor visibility, weather and ground conditions also posing a risk.
The safety campaign utilises radio, social media and roadside advertisements, targeting metropolitan and regional drivers. All licence holders are encouraged to brush up on the road rules before the new law comes into effect to help improve safety on South Australian roads.
The 25km/h speed limit will not apply to drivers if the stationary breakdown services vehicle is on the opposite side of the road they are travelling.
The new law is an extension of the existing 25km/h speed limit in place to protect stationary school buses that have stopped to set down or pick up children, and frontline volunteers and emergency services workers with vehicles displaying flashing blue or red lights as they respond to incidents roadside.
As put by Tom Koutsantonis
The roadside can be a dangerous place for breakdown services workers who face high-risk situations every day by simply doing their job and helping others.
This campaign is driving home the roadside safety message and calls on all road users to slow down for a breakdown to ensure everyone can get home safely.
If you see flashing amber lights on a vehicle up ahead, take your foot off the accelerator and reduce your speed to 25km/h.
Pay attention, slow down and stick to the limit to protect the people who answer the call when car troubles strike.
As put by RAA Senior Manager Safety and Infrastructure Charles Mountain
You can’t choose where you breakdown – often it’s on a busy main road or near a precarious intersection – and our patrols and tow truck drivers are often helping vulnerable road users.
Whether that’s the elderly, a parent with children or any other person stranded at the roadside – it’s not safe for anyone to have cars flying past too fast.
By slowing down for yellow, it will ensure we’re all helping to protect the people they are helping.
As put by Motor Trade Association SA/NT Chief Executive Officer Darrell Jacobs
All towing, roadside assistance operators and their staff deserve to be safe doing their job.
Together, let’s all slow down when we see a breakdown.
As put by Australian Manufacturing Workers Union Acting State Secretary Stuart Gordon (the AMWU represents Roadside Patrol Workers at RAA)
Roadside patrol workers work in inclement weather with traffic going in their direction at speeds up to 110 km/h, putting their lives at risk while assisting others.
Everyone deserves a safe workplace and these changes have gone a long way in making RAA Patrol and Vehicle Assistance workers safer.
Union members at RAA applaud the decision to slow down to 25 after decades of campaigning for safety by the AMWU.