Australia’s national target of zero road deaths or serious injuries by 2050 is an admirable goal, however, 2024 data indicates we’re actually moving further away from the lofty ambition.
Regardless of whether that target is reached, the nation’s heavy vehicle sector will play a crucial role in ensuring current trends reverse and the death and serious injury toll across the country begins to trend downwards. Such is the size, weight and power of heavy vehicles that any collisions they are involved in are more likely to be serious, and such is their presence on the roads that incidents in the sector are, unfortunately, bordering on inevitable.
The added pressure on the industry to rapidly and tangibly improve its safety has resulted in a string of new and adjusted policies to attempt to make the industry exponentially safer, but recent data released by Australian-based telematics company Seeing Machines shows the country’s heavy vehicle operators stack up well when compared to the rest of the world regarding distraction and fatigue events.
In its Guardian Insight Report, Seeing Machines says it covered 32,420 vehicles across 1961 fleets in Australia which, combined, travelled almost two billion kilometres in the October 2023 – September 2024 reporting period.
Crucially, instances of both fatigue and distraction consistently fell on a month-to-month basis. In October 2023, Guardian was registering 0.728 fatigue events and 1.861 distraction events per 10,000km driven.
September 2024 saw the fewest fatigue events registered over the period at 0.317 per 10,000 kilometres, while June saw a period-low 1.12 distraction events per 10,000km, barely below the final September mark.
Looking at this data in isolation, something must be working, whether it is the progression of telematics technology, increased driver awareness of responsibilities, increased policing, or even a combination of any and all of these factors remains to be seen, but continued reduction in these numbers should, overall, lead to safer Australian roads.
Australia’s gradual and consistent improvement, though, looks to be the exception, not the rule when compared to the rest of the world. Asia saw dramatic increases in fatigue and distraction detection by the end of the year, while Latin America saw a marked decrease in fatigue events but a worrying dramatic increase in distraction detection.
North America and the UK experienced alarming spikes in both metrics, as did the Middle East, Asia and Africa.
“There is one indisputable trend we continue to see worldwide,” General Manager – Aftermarket for Seeing Machines Max Verberne says. “The concerning number of heavy vehicle-related fatalities and injuries, with driver distraction and fatigue often playing a significant role in many of these tragic, and often avoidable, incidents.”
For better or for worse, telematics are set to play a continuingly rising role in Australia’s heavy vehicle sector as it attempts to remove as many risk factors from its drivers as physically possible.
The National Heavy Vehicle Regulator, through the Heavy Vehicle National Law and its Heavy Vehicle Safety Strategy Action Plan, will be central to this, as the regulator possesses the power to implement changes seen to be fit for the industry.
An NHVR spokesperson says the regulator will continue to work with industry and government to ensure positive use of fatigue and distraction detection technologies.
“The NHVR is committed to partnering with industry and government to encourage the uptake and recognition of rapidly emerging FDDTs which have been proven to play an influential role in reducing driver fatigue and distraction risks on our roads,” the spokesperson told ATN.
“The uptake of FDDTs is a clear demonstration of how industry continues to innovate with safety technologies to help improve safety and save lives.
“The Good Practice Guidance Material was based on industry feedback identifying the need for greater clarity around the use of FDDTs, including implementation and regulatory responsibilities in managing FDDT alerts and data.
“As part of the safety project, the NHVR partnered with transport operators and drivers, as well as technology providers and regulatory partners to get a first-hand understanding of how they use FDDTs in their business.
“The human factors that influence human performance are an integral part of safety management and are critical in understanding, identifying and mitigating safety risk.
“The NHVR encourages and supports operators to continue improving their safety performance by integrating human factors and technology such as FDDT into their safety management systems.”
The regulator might say it is working with industry to ensure positive uptake of these technologies, and while the technology’s presence may help promote greater fatigue and distraction management practices from drivers, almost all of the improvement in these areas must be attributed to the vehicle operators themselves.
While, as a whole, road safety and trauma outcomes across much of Australia are moving in the wrong direction, it is comforting to know that those behind the wheel of Australia’s largest and most critical road vehicles are taking their own measures to buck the trend and create some positive movement towards that scary, overall goal of zero road deaths and serious injuries by 2050.
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