Ok, now I have a little more time I'll elaborate.
NHV laws we're introduced to passenger transport in SA on 1/10/18 I believe, so whilst it may have been around for a lot longer, it's only new to this section of the heavy vehicle industry.
I'll give you an example of how the system should work and why it doesn't.
I began driving passenger transport prior to the introduction of the legislation, I noted on my first day that the
ABS light on the dash was illuminated and discussed it firstly with the person who had been driving it and then with our mechanic and was told it was a sensor and not to worry about it.
Fast forward a month and its due it's 12 monthly inspection which it fails due to the
ABS problem.
The vehicle is returned to the depot at which time I'm grilled for not letting anyone know, I then explained that it had been illuminated since before I began driving it and called on the former driver who occurred.
When I arrived later that afternoon the mechanic came over with a big grin on his face saying he'd fixed the problem, I turned the ignition on and no light came on, now to average Joe it would appear that he did infact fix it, but being vehicle savvy I knew straight away that all he'd done is removed the globe as it should illuminate on ignition to prove it's working and extinguish once started.
I said this to him and he snarled and stormed off, the vehicle was Re- booked for inspection and passed...
A few weeks later I found myself in a situation where I needed to brake heavily in the wet, the rear end locked immediately and I slid whilst pumping the peddle for a good 50m luckily avoiding the obstacle, the
ABS didn't work at all.
Soon after that the legislation was introduced and that vehicle has been getting around with faulty brakes whilst being signed off as compliant for approximately 18 months and has even been through a second inspection.
The industry is cut throat and whilst legislation is put in place with good intentions it can only work if the person on the bottom rung of the ladder, the driver, feels comfortable and secure enough in his job with support from those up the chain that any issues will be managed appropriately.
Now I understand why you defend it so strongly if you we're required to preach it to business, but from someone on the other end of the chain at the coal face it is a very different story and again, I doubt I'm a pioneer on the subject.