Transport operators and motorists with insecure loads on the Auckland motorway system are being targeted by a new NZTA campaign to reduce the amount of debris falling onto the road.
Loose loads are road hazards that have the potential to kill or harm says the NZTA and it will focus on encouraging transport operators and motorists to tie loads on their vehicles down securely.
The Tie-It-Down campaign will educate drivers about the potential dangers of loose loads.
NZTA motorway alliance director, Steve Mutton says it’s responding to an increasing number of callouts to remove, or clean up badly secured loads which have fallen from the roofs of cars or the backs of trailers.
The Auckland Motorway Alliance which is responsible for the ongoing maintenance of the motorways receives around 1500 call outs a year to clean up or remove debris or insecure loads that have fallen onto the motorway.
In the past six months alone there have been 40 reports of mattresses on the Auckland motorway network.
Most incidents involve the police, a NZTA incident response team, and continuous monitoring from the traffic control centre.
“We’ve had to pick up everything from mattresses to pieces of timber. As well as the risk of causing a crash, these incidents can also lead to delays for the travelling public,” says Mutton.
“Over the past five years there have been an average of 35 debris related accidents recorded by the police each year, in nearly every case the incident could have been avoided if the load had been properly secured or covered.”
Over the next 6 months NZTA will be educating drivers about the risks and how they can minimise them by remembering three key messages – “load it up, tie it down and check it out”.
For tips on how to make sure a load is secure and to enter a competition to show NZTA your ‘tie it down’ skills visit Tieitdown.co.nz
Entrants can upload pictures showing a secure load and go into the draw to win a $500 hardware store voucher.
