Photo: 123RF
Police have brought in new machines to cut down on fatal accidents when truck parking brakes slip.
Several people have been killed in this way since 2010.
Authorities have known for years that routine mechanical checks are not good at picking up faulty truck handbrakes, or ones that take excessive force to apply.
Police have now introduced five new roller brake test machines that can pick this up.
The mobile machines will be used on the roadside by their commercial vehicle safety teams.
They also have 20 mobile thermal imaging devices which detect an imbalance in brake temperature, which may indicate a fault that needs looking at.
"This enables police to identify more vehicles with brake faults, therefore enabling us to take more prevention and enforcement action," acting manager of commercial vehicle safety Inspector Scott Webb said.
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