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ARTICLE · 20 APRIL 2018

Is it all about the driver? - CoR and the principle of Shared Responsibility

Holding Redlich
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CoR imposes obligations on all parties within the CoR, but it does not shift the blame when the driver alone is at fault.

AustraliaTransport
Geoff Farnsworth
Geoff Farnsworth
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Chain of Responsibility (CoR) recognises that the driver alone is not (necessarily) solely responsible for breaches of speed, mass, load securing and fatigue. However despite the principle of "Shared Responsibility", the driver necessarily remains at the front-end when it comes to many "on-road" aspects of CoR.

This article will consider when the driver is, and isn't responsible, why this distinction matters and what can be done.

When it's not about the driver

The new CoR imposes a great many obligations on all parties within the CoR.

It is possible to analyse these obligations as "on-road" and "off-road".

Obviously all CoR obligations are "on-road" to the extent that a driver has a primary responsibility not to breach his or her CoR obligations. Despite the principle of Shared Responsibility, drivers are in a direct position of control or influence when it comes to a great many CoR obligations, and so they should be. Drivers should not be passive actors in

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