"When the accident involving a large crane in downtown St. John’s occurred last summer, I stated that a policy review would be necessary once the investigation concluded," said Sweeney. "Being the Minister at the time, I was very concerned about the adequacy of the inspection requirements under the Highway Traffic Act. In fact, I was surprised that inspections of such equipment were not required.

"Now that the investigation and legal proceedings have concluded, it is incumbent on the Minister of Government Services to move forward with a review and/or changes to the Highway Traffic Act to ensure this does not happen again. While government may not have been directly at fault for this accident, government has a role to play in preventing similar accidents from happening in the future. The entire process for issuing special permits and inspection requirements need to be looked into to ensure public safety is protected for all people in the province."

The Liberal MHA is also concerned about the increase in the number of ATV accidents involving minors. "The Minister, while reviewing the inspection and special permit requirements, should take a look at ATV regulations, age requirements and penalties so that public safety is ensured. I am not in favour of over regulating any sport or industry, but we obviously have a problem in this province considering the number of accidents, injuries and deaths that have occurred. The Minister should consider educational programs directed specifically at parents and children who are operating these machines."