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Fatality trend underscores safety on ATA agenda

Association committees addressing law, enforcement and training issues in lead-up to council meeting

By Rob McKay | July 31, 2013

The faltering pace of fatal truck crash improvement has helped reinforce safety on the Australian Trucking Association’s agenda at its September council meeting.

The latest Bureau of Infrastructure, Transport and Regional Economics (BITRE) figures
released last week highlighted the levelling off of a downward trend in fatal heavy vehicle fatal crashes and fatality numbers.

“Although the rate of fatal articulated vehicle crashes has fallen dramatically since the 1980s, the latest BITRE truck accident figures show we can’t rest until everyone who uses our roads gets home safely every day,” National Government Relations and Communications Manager Bill McKinley says.

“At the ATA’s recent event, Trucking Australia 2013, our delegates discussed how governments and the industry could continue to improve truck safety.

“They recommended that the ATA should work on issues like:

  • fairer and more effective chain of responsibility laws and enforcement, with more dialogue between operators and the NHVR and better education for enforcement officers
  • training for light vehicle drivers in how to share the road safely with trucks
  • better training for truck drivers when they enter the industry
  • better speed management and enforcement, including grounding trucks found travelling at more than 120 km/h on the flat.

“The ATA’s policy committees have already started considering these recommendations, and they will be discussed at the ATA council meeting on 25 September.”

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