Clark recommends dedicated road safety authority and efforts that focus on all road users
The National Road Transport Association (NatRoad) says it supports NSW Road Safety Plan that tackles public education campaigns along with vehicle and road safety measures.
NatRoad CEO Warren Clark applauds NSW premier Gladys Berejiklian’s commitment to working with the road transport industry on reversing the trend in increased truck-related fatalities.
“The recent fatalities on NSW roads have spread heartache throughout the trucking community,” Clark says.
“In response, the industry stands together to offer full support to the Government in finding solutions to safety problems.
“Importantly, the plan announced yesterday by the Premier addresses many of the major concerns that have come to light during this important conversation.
“The outcome is clearly well-considered and will go a long way to improving road safety and the welfare of all road users.
“We’re especially pleased the Premier has recommended a public awareness campaign and recognised that the solution to reducing heavy vehicle accidents is likely to arise from the behaviour of light vehicle drivers.
“The trucking community has long been in support of a public awareness campaign but struggled with the large financial resource that is required to fund such an initiative.”
Clark is calling for broader application of safety measures to include all road users.
He says point-to-point average speed camera detection systems that monitor all vehicles instead of focusing solely on heavy vehicles can improve road safety.
“Speed is a risk which affects all vehicles and is a major contributor to accidents,” he says.
“NatRoad is also calling for a dedicated authority such as the Australian Transport Safety Bureau (ATSB) to promptly and fully investigate serious truck accidents and to share the results and recommendations publicly so that we can all take the appropriate action to stop these tragedies.
“We look forward to working more closely with the NSW Government to integrate heavy vehicle interests into the road safety strategy.”