Some trucking firms no longer import vehicles with cardan shaft parkbrakes. Photo: siwakorn / 123RF
- NZ Transport Agency memo to minister says braking system linked to six deaths not inherently unsafe
- Father of man who died due to a brake failure says he'll keep pushing for more action
- Driver had to jump to safety in latest rollaway incident
- Truck firms won't import vehicles with cardan shaft parkbrakes
The New Zealand Transport Agency has doubled down on its stance that a braking system linked to six deaths is not inherently unsafe.
Transport Minister Chris Bishop asked for a briefing from the transport agency, after a coroner's report into the death of Graeme Rabbits at an Auckland worksite in 2018 blamed a failing cardan shaft parkbrake.
Coroner Erin Woolley determined that these brakes, found in about 70,000 vehicles in New Zealand, could not be relied upon as a sole braking system, because even a well-maintained brake could fail without warning.
Despite this, the NZTA told the minister it didn't accept the coroner's views on the brakes being inherently unsafe nor did the agency accept the coroner's criticisms of its attitude.
RNZ can reveal another instance of a cardan shaft brake failing and a Checkpoint investigation has found trucking firms have long since stopped importing vehicles with cardan shaft parking brakes, because of their problems.
Officials 'playing Russian roulette'
Bishop refused to be interviewed about cardan shaft brakes, calling it a complex issue.
A memo sent by transport agency officials, obtained by RNZ, said it didn't accept the coroner's view on the brakes or that it lacked an open mind about safety concerns, but Graeme Rabbits' father, Selwyn Rabbits, said that was exactly what he saw.
He's spent almost eight years urging the agency to take firmer action, such as banning imports of vehicles fitted with cardan shaft parkbrakes.
"These things are just not fit for purpose, but NZTA continues to stonewall us," Selwyn Rabbits said.
"I can't recall anyone I've spoken to, any knowledgeable person outside NZTA, who doesn't say these things are dangerous.
"It's only within NZTA, who have taken this absolutely entrenched and dangerous position, and it's basically playing Russian roulette with people's lives."
The agency said it continued to monitor data on the brakes and go through Coroner Wolley's findings, before considering if further regulations were necessary.
Selwyn Rabbits insists NZTA's response to his son's death is not enough. Photo: Nick Monro
It already required warnings stickers and recommended the use of 'chocks' - blocks - on wheels to prevent vehicles rolling away on slopes. It also points to campaigns aimed at raising awareness of the brakes' limitations.
Rabbits said those measures were not enough.
"I saw a comment from the minister saying this is a technical and complex issue. The thing is it's not.
"Even with a lay person, you give me 5-10 minutes and I can explain why these things are dangerous.
"A driver has no idea how much braking power they've implied and how much they need, and then you load it up and it runs away, so it's really simple."
This week, the transport agency told RNZ: "Since 2020, NZTA has undertaken a significant programme of work to understand the risks involved with [cardan shaft parking brakes], and to introduce a range of regulatory changes and interventions.
"This programme of work was initiated following Mr Rabbits' death, and has since expanded to incorporate broader regulatory interventions and operational improvements across the heavy vehicle sector.
"NZTA will also be undertaking further action, focused on continuing to increase the understanding of the correct use, testing and maintenance of [cardan shaft parking brakes] amongst drivers, owners, vehicle inspectors and mechanics."
Meanwhile, Rabbits isn't giving up.
After NZTA chairman Simon Bridges declined a meeting with him, he has accepted yet another with the agency director to call for firmer action.
Another brake failure
RNZ has spoken to a North Island businessman, whose company's been affected by another cardan shaft parking brake failure recently, where a vehicle's driver had to jump to safety.
The man asked for anonymity, while he worked with his insurer for the vehicle's recovery.
"The driver was climbing into the truck, when the handbrake failed," he said. "The truck was laden and ready to shift, but just the weight of him climbing into the truck was enough for the handbrake to fail.
"It bounced over two wheel chocks and he wasn't able to control it, before it gained enough velocity and he had to evacuate, and the truck careened off the end of the driveway."
The vehicle involved was a small 4x4 truck.
The man said, most of the time, the brakes weren't a significant issue, because his company's main fleet of trucks could be parked in gear, with chocks applied on slopes.
"Something has to change. We have heard many stories of people who have lost their lives, due to an unreliable brake.
"I am not so mechanically minded as to offer an alternative, but whatever replaces it has to fail shut and fail safely, instead of simply releasing.
"A braking mechanism that locks the wheels is inherently more safe than one that only controls the wheels."
Cardan shaft parkbrakes are cheaper than other braking systems, as they use a single mechanism at the gearbox, rather than at the wheels.
Graeme Rabbits was killed in a workplace accident in 2018. Photo: Supplied
Trucking firms take stand on brakes
Southpac Trucks in Auckland doesn't import trucks with the cardan shaft brakes.
Chief executive Marteen Durent said the recommended safety measures for the brakes, including using chocks on the wheels to prevent rollaways, were inadequate.
"It's really quite ridiculous that you would park a vehicle and consider using wheel chocks.
"That's the sort of thing you would have done with a horse and cart in Queen Street 100 years ago. It's really quite third world."
The NZ Transport Agency had probably done everything it could with the current fleet of vehicles, but it could act further, Durent said.
He even contacted the agency in 2020, saying the brakes should be banned.
"Why don't we take a new standard and effect it from a date, set some time in the near future, do a course correction and opt for a brake system that is considered to be of a higher standard?
"I think that's what Selwyn was talking about, and I don't disagree with that or what the coroner says."
Chief executive of trucking importer and distributor Foton New Zealand Roger Jory said he stopped importing vehicles with cardan shaft brakes nine years ago - well before the transport agency's awareness campaign.
"They have severe limitations and I'm well aware of that," he said. "Through our exposure with Foton and having a full airbrake system on a light-duty truck, we know there's a superior system.
"For us, it was a natural step to take with our supplier to try and get an alternative to the cardan shaft parkbrake."
Jory said he was particularly concerned about them in light trucks, which could be driven by people with no experience of braking systems that required more than simply pulling a handbrake in place.
He said Foton New Zealand had delayed introducing an EV truck to the New Zealand market, because it had a cardan shaft parking brake.
"It meant we missed out on sales. We weren't the first to market with an EV truck.
"A lot of our competitors beat us, but for us, it was a compromise to have a cardan shaft parkbrake back in our light-duty truck range."
Jory wasn't prepared to make that compromise.
Foton then came back to its New Zealand distributor with a similar vehicle that had a full airbrake system.
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