Transport chief to meet with Ford

FORD Australia and FCAI president Tom Gorman will meet with Victorian Transport Minister Peter Batchelor early in 2005 to brief him on the company’s safety programs and plans.

The meeting between the two men was organised in the wake of Victorian Premier Steve Bracks’ proposal that speedo displays be limited to 130km/h, which Mr Batchelor subsequently presented to the Australian Transport Council.

Mr Bracks cited the new 270kW FPV F6 Typhoon as a motivator for his suggestion, prompting Mr Gorman to strongly criticise the State Government for the idea itself and its lack of consultation on the matter.

“I talked to Mr Batchelor and we had a really good conversation and the net of it is that we invited him to come out and see what we are doing on the safety front,” Mr Gorman said.

“We’ll take him over to our research facility and show him what we are working on, give him an idea of where we are going on road safety, and have an opportunity to talk to him about all the other initiatives that within FCAI we are undertaking.

“Firstly, I hope we get an outcome where he understands how committed we are to road safety … and then I think we both have to listen to each other as to what we can do to ensure the mortality rate on our roads go down.”