MOUNT Isa’s bull bar blitz is cancelled.
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About 50 drivers were warned by police this month to replace their forward-leaning bull bars or they would be issued with a defect notice.
They were given timeframes of seven days to two months to replace the bull bars.
But the campaign was cancelled after one traffic officer misinterpreted the law. A constable has been requested by his superiors to apologise to driver Lyn Murphy, who was issued with a defect notice last week.
It was given after she questioned the Department of Transport and Main Roads Minor Modifications Legislation.
Part of the basis of the awareness campaign was the Vehicle Accessories and Equipment section of the legislation.
It reads: “Items such as driving lights, winches and brackets may be fitted without specific approval, provided they do not protrude forward from the front face of any bumper or above the top of any bull bar.”
The constable said this part took precedence over other sections in the legislation, which might suggest forward-leaning bull bars were roadworthy.
Lyn Murphy said she was intercepted last Tuesday and told to replace the bull bar for her Toyota LandCruiser in seven days. It could not be ordered in time due to the Christmas period, so the deadline was extended to two months.
Replacing the bull bar would have cost about $1500, Mrs Murphy said.
In the next few days Mrs Murphy examined paperwork but found no Queensland law stating her bull bar was illegal.
The Minor Modifications Legislation only applied to vehicles made after June 2013, and Mrs Murphy’s LandCruiser was made in 1999.
Mrs Murphy attempted to discuss the legislation with the constable in an “assertive” matter on Thursday, and was then issued a defect notice.
The defect notice was quashed on Friday by Mount Isa Police acting inspector Graham Boyd.
Mrs Murphy believed she was given the defect notice because she questioned the police officer. “He needs to admit he made a mistake,” Mrs Murphy said.
Mrs Murphy approached The North West Star before the defect notice was cancelled, because she believed a crackdown on bull bars would affect a large number of drivers from Mount Isa and surrounding stations.
If forward-leaning bull bars were illegal then the community needed to know, and if they were not illegal and told otherwise then people needed to be informed before they bought replacements, Mrs Murphy believed.