Re: Speed Restrictions & Enforcement

[G.Lambert@unsw.edu.au (Geoff Lambert)]

Bill Guest <wguest@xtra.co.nz> wrote:

>Adam Joyce wrote:

>> I have always wondered how speed limits are enforced on Australia's
>> rail

>So far as I know, there is no statute in Aus or NZ making speeding in a
>train an offence, or even being drunk in charge of a train! 

There are (or were) two types of statutory  controls over these
matters.

The first was that the rule book, under most jurisdictions (S. Austr
was the main Australian exception), was a statutory instrument, being
a By Law of the appropriate railways Act.  There are instances of
infringements of the rules (including a case of speeding in
Queensland) being prosecuted in the courts under these instruments.
Mostly, however, discipline was carried out under the the railway's
own internal mechanisms, which did not really have statutory sanction,
being management practices really.  Since about 1982, starting in
Victoria, rule books have been written out of the statutes, thus
downgrading this aspect of enforcement.  Other mechanisms, such as
those contained in the NSW Rail Safety Act have tended to cover them
though.

There has also always been other statutes and the common law under
which safety infringements can be enforced (see Bill Guest's response,
below).  In general, when matters have come before the courts, such
instruments have been used, rather that the By Laws represented by the
rule books.  Railway safety can even be found in the Crimes Act, a
notorious piece of Menzian legislation, wherein the maximum punishment
for placing a stone on the rail of a railway track was made life
imprisonment (and still is, as far as I know).  Affcionados of Qld
Railways timetables will remember this one from the 1960's and prior.

Geoff Lambert

>However,
>both countries have general provisions about reckless use of machines
>endangering the lives of others, so I guess the police could act if they
>received a complaint and could gather evidence. Of course, the railways
>themselves have staff rules against speeding, drink, and drugs! In the
>United States, the Federal Railroad Administration has rules that do
>make it an offence to drive a train at greater than the authorised
>speed, or to have taken drugs or alcohol, etc etc.