Chair of the Australian Trucking Association, Mark Parry says the Australian Government must include truckies in its planned $10.8 million road safety education and awareness campaign.
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Parry says the trucking industry’s safety record has improved over the decades, but the National Truck Accident Research Centre’s (NTARC) 2024 major incidents report, raised concerns.
“Our industry is much safer than it used to be. For example, there were 56 fewer fatal crashes involving articulated trucks in 2023 than in 2003,” he says.
“The increase in safety is even more marked when you consider that the number of articulated trucks on the road almost doubled from 2003 to 2023.”
But with the release of the NTARC 2.0, an increase of driver inattention or distraction have increased since 2022, and incidents due to inappropriate speed and tailgating have also increased.
Parry says these findings show the Government’s planned road safety campaign needs to reinforce good safety practices by truck and car drivers.
“We all need to be reminded to pay attention, slow down and stay back from the vehicle in front,” he says.
“The growing number of alerts from in-cab technology is also a distraction issue. Drivers need alerts that are urgent and important – such as warnings about drowsiness or lane keeping – but don’t need unimportant alerts while they are focused on driving.”
Parry has urged the Government to support businesses to upgrade their fleets to trucks with the latest safety technology, like electronic stability control and advanced emergency braking.
“We are arguing that the Government should permanently reinstate full expensing, so businesses can bring forward their fleet upgrades to improve their safety, productivity and sustainability now.”
The call for the national road safety campaign to include truck messages was a key recommendation of the ATA’s 2024 Workforce and Driver Training Summit.
NTARC 2.0 is a partnership between the Monash University Accident Research Centre, the National Road Safety Partnership Program and NTI.
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