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Not perfect, but motorists are getting there

While saying motorists need to take care, NTC believes there is more knowledge about sharing the road with trucks

By Ruza Zivkusic | February 17, 2011

The National Transport Commission is urging all motorists to be more careful when sharing the road with trucks.

As the NTC prepares to release its regulatory impact statement on the national heavy vehicle regulator, its senior manager Jeff Potter says truck drivers and the general public need to be cautious to avoid crashes.

Sixty people were killed in heavy vehicle accidents last year. The figure is up by 23 fatalities from the year before.

Potter, who has extensive experience in road safety initiatives, says not many drivers understand how much space large vehicles need to manoeuvre and brake.

“We certainly haven’t got the perfect behaviour from all road users yet but I think knowledge is better than what it was 10 years ago before these programs began,” Potter says.

He says education campaigns must continually be run because of the new drivers on the road. Potter says campaigns need to focus on all drivers to ensure they have the knowledge to deal with different vehicles.

The impact statement on the regulator, which is designed to resolve cross-border inconsistencies, is due for completion this month. To be based in Queensland, the regulator will begin operating in 2013.

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