THE AUSTRALIAN Trucking Association (ATA) Chief Executive, Stuart St Clair, used his address at the National Press Club today to call on all levels of government and the industry to work together to improve safety on the road.
St Clair said governments and the industry need to focus on safer roads, safer trucks, safer drivers and safer companies.
He admitted recent investment in roads by the Australian Government would help to push down accident rates, but warned that the state governments are often paving over or closing existing truck rest areas as they plan and build new roads.
The ATA said to get the best safety value, the Australian Government should require the states to design their Nation Building road projects to include truck rest areas from the start.
Safer trucks will also have a dramatic effect on the safety on Australia’s roads, according to St Clair.
While he admitted the safety of the industry had already improved dramatically, with a remarkable improvement in crashes over the past twenty years, he said further falls will only occur if governments, the industry and customers take up the safe systems approach to road safety.
He suggested the best way that governments could improve the safety of trucks is to allow us to use longer and safer combinations like B-triples on some routes.
Improvements in heavy vehicle licence training would also see improvements in road safety, according to St Clair.
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