A Cars Guide opinion piece has sparked debate on whether removing trucks from roads is a viable option to reduce the number of dangerous incidents occurring on Australian roads
Following last week’s crash between a truck and a school bus in Victoria, the industry has been offered an urgent reminder on the dangers of operating in and around heavy vehicles.
This has led to various safety calls, with some calling for seat belts to be classed as mandatory on Victorian school buses, while others have questioned the safety of running trucks on these shared roads.
Cars Guide senior journalist Richard Berry is in the latter’s camp, with his recent opinion piece asking if it’s a good idea to ban trucks from Victorian roads to save lives.
“There are a lot of reasons why accidents occur and trucks aren’t the only type of vehicles having crashes – there are far more car accidents than those involving heavy vehicles,” Berry says on Cars Guide.
“Trucks, however, are capable of more destruction due to their size and weight. The force generated by a 19m long, 50 tonne B-double truck is massive. We’re talking 6.6 Mega Newtons of force produced by a fully laden B-double when hitting a stationary object. That’s a bomb, basically – about the same amount of energy released by 1.5kg of TNT.”
Berry answers his own question, saying trucks can’t be banned from roads because the entire country depends on them to keep the nation functioning.
Another option Berry investigates is whether purpose-built roads for heavy vehicles would work, but he refutes this due to the expensive nature of this undertaking.
Instead, Berry references expert opinion to suggest a combination of better safety technology and better driver conditions could help save lives and cut these incidents from occurring.
As well as managing driver fatigue and limiting shift times, Berry says Australia will benefit from implementing the European Union 2012 mandate that all new trucks and buses must be fitted with autonomous emergency braking systems.
When this comes into effect on November 1 this year for all new heavy vehicles, he expects safety to increase.
“A salary will ensure drivers aren’t being pushed to the limit to make money, better conditions and hours will also do the same, while better safety tech will be there to save lives when all else fails,” Berry says.
“As a parent who has had semi-trailers tailgating me at 100km/h just a metre away from my sleeping daughter’s head in the back seat, these changes can’t happen soon enough.”