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Rigid truck fatal crash figures refuse to go the right way

Articulated vehicles do the right thing, while Victoria struggles to find negative territory for either type

 

Articulated truck fatal crashes have continued their downward trend but those involving heavy rigids show a stubborn consistency, the latest Bureau of Infrastructure, Transport, and Regional Economics (BITRE) figures show.

While the totals display a certain volatility, the Fatal heavy vehicle crashes quarterly bulletin for the March quarter shows heavy rigid fatalities hovering around the 20 mark for the past two years after three years of improvement.

By contrast and despite an up-tick in 2013-14, such articulated-truck incidents have confirmed their downward trend.

Heavy rigid fatal crashes rose 10 per cent compared with last year’s March quarter and 6 per cent over the three years to March.

For articulated truck, it was a 5.9 per cent decrease and an 8.5 per cent decrease respectively.

On a state basis, New South Wales bucked the dismal heavy rigid trend after a spike in last year’s March quarter, to 18 from 27, while the reverse was true in Victoria, up to 24 from 14.

Victoria also saw a spike in articulated truck incident this March compared to last March, up to 25 from 14, while there were significant falls in NSW, at 36 to 25, and Queensland, at 31 to 21.

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