The Australian Government must include truck drivers in its planned road safety education and awareness campaign, the Chair of the Australian Trucking Association, Mark Parry, said today.
The Government provided $10.8 million for the campaign in the 2024-25 Budget.
Mr Parry said the trucking industry's safety record had improved markedly over the decades, but the National Truck Accident Research Centre's 2024 major incidents report, released this week, 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," Mr Parry said.
"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 the NTARC 2.0 report highlights issues we must address. The report found that driver inattention or distraction incidents have increased since 2022. Incidents due to inappropriate speed have increased, as have incidents involving tailgating.
"These findings show that the Government's planned road safety campaign needs to reinforce good safety practices by truck drivers as well as car drivers.
"We all need to be reminded to pay attention, slow down and stay back from the vehicle in front.
"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," he said.
Mr Parry urged the Government to support businesses to upgrade their fleets to trucks with the latest safety technologies.
"Technologies like electronic stability control and advanced emergency braking save lives, but trucking businesses need support to buy new trucks," he said.
"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.
The summit brought together leaders from the ATA's ten member associations, as well as staff from road transport businesses involved in driving, training, scheduling, compliance, regulation and other activities that influence on-road behaviour.
NTARC 2.0 is a partnership between the Monash University Accident Research Centre, the National Road Safety Partnership Program and NTI. The ATA received an early version of the 2024 report for summit participants.
