Industry lobby group says proposed road safety initiative should focus on driver education and recognising the TruckSafe accreditation scheme
By Brad Gardner | October 22, 2012
The proposed National Road Safety Partnership Program (NRSPP) should recognise the TruckSafe accreditation scheme and focus on educating motorists about heavy vehicles, the Australian Trucking Association (ATA) says.
Echoing comments made by industry advocate Rod Hannifey to the National Transport Commission about the NRSPP, the ATA has highlighted a lack of knowledge among motorists about trucks as a key concern.
It wants corporate road safety programs developed under the NRSPP to include education about sharing the road safely with heavy vehicles.
“The current driver licensing system means drivers have limited factual knowledge of how to safely cooperate with heavy vehicles and would lead to people being likely to misunderstand the benefits of larger trucks and simply feeling intimidated by trucks,” the ATA says.
A proposal from the NTC, the NRSPP is aimed at helping reduce Australia’s road deaths and serious injuries by 30 percent between 2011 and 2020.
The NRSPP will bring together businesses, governments and researchers to share information about existing road safety initiatives and to develop programs.
“The NSRPP will facilitate knowledge sharing opportunities for all businesses to enable them to choose and implement the right tools for their operational needs and, importantly, measure and evaluate the outcomes,” the NTC says.
“Recognition through formalised partnerships is proposed for organisations that demonstrate an ongoing commitment to creating and monitoring a positive road safety culture.”
The ATA says TruckSafe-accredited businesses, which are required to meet safety standards to remain a part of the program, should be recognised.
“Operators seeking TruckSafe accreditation must meet high safety and management standards, which considerably exceed the ones required by law. The operators are audited regularly by independent auditors selected by TruckSafe,” the ATA says.
“Given the substantial commitment that businesses in these programs have made to improve their safety, they should automatically receive recognition under the proposed NRSPP recognition scheme.”
The ATA also wants a seat on the NRSPP steering committee, saying its experience designing and running TruckSafe will “be of substantial benefit” to the group.
“The heavy vehicle industry is required to meet compliance for safety on every journey; many other road users are not required to have the same level of reporting on safety responsibilities,” the ATA says.
“The heavy vehicle industry therefore can offer a practical insight in what has worked for drivers and what could be done to improve road user’s safety.”
