MAIN ROADS —
RESTRICTED ACCESS VEHICLES
693. Hon RICK MAZZA to the minister representing the
Minister for Transport:
I refer to local government–issued
exemptions for transport operators of restricted access vehicles to access
minor roads to reach their nearest restricted access vehicle–approved
road.
(1) Do these
local government exemptions issued to transport operators of RAVs have legal
authority and protection from prosecution by the Department of Transport?
(2) If no to (1),
would this leave local government councils and transport operators exposed to
legal liability and insurance claim rejections should an incident occur on a non-RAV
road?
(3) If yes to (2), is the government considering
legislation to provide a legal framework for the provision of exemptions for
the practical necessity of operators having to access RAV-approved roads from
another location?
Hon
STEPHEN DAWSON replied:
I thank the honourable member for
some notice of the question.
(1) Local
governments do not have any authority under the Road Traffic (Vehicles) Act
2012 to grant exemptions or approvals to enable restricted access vehicles to
access public roads.
(2) Yes.
(3) Main Roads is the only agency in Western Australia
with the authority to grant exemptions or approvals to enable RAVs to
access public roads. Main Roads conducts safety and infrastructure assessments
of roads prior to approving RAV access. Main Roads can provide training to
local governments so that local governments
are able to assess the suitability of their local roads for RAV access;
however, all RAV access assessments by local government must be provided
to Main Roads for review and for Main Roads to issue the RAV access permits to
the transport operator in accordance with legislative requirements.