ATA CEO tells ABC current affairs program of shortfall
Australian Trucking Association (ATA) CEO Ben Maguire has raised the issue on truck rest-area shortfalls in the mainstream media.
Speaking on ABC current affairs program The Drum late last week, Maguire opened a new front on the truck safety debate to raise awareness if the long-term and on-going issue.
“If you’ve ever been in a truck or driven around Australia in a truck, there aren’t very many decent places for a driver to have a good rest, and that’s a key planning issue,” Maguire says.
He made the point that many existing rest areas do not provide drivers with an environment where they could get a good rest.
“Three feet away there’s a family who are pulling up to buy a coffee or there’s another truck beside them,” he says.
Maguire says that part of any solution to road crashes needed to be better training for car drivers.
“We think part of the solution is better training for small vehicle drivers and more awareness of how they operate around heavy vehicles,” he says.