NSW Govt To Work With Industry on Truck Safety
A truck safety plan developed by both the NSW Government and trucking industry is in the works, to improve not only heavy vehicle productivity but safety for heavy vehicles and other road users.
According to Minister for Roads, Maritime and Freight, Melinda Pavey,the industry has the knowledge and expertise to improve productivity. She also highlighted that working with everyone in the transport supply chain is crucial because we all share the responsibility of road safety,
“The issue of heavy vehicle safety is one that is being addressed nationally, and all states are working together through forums such as the Transport and Infrastructure Council to address this issue,” said Pavey. “We are also making sure that safety is a shared responsibility for all parties in the road transport supply chain. We all have a responsibility to prevent safety breaches and ensure our roads are safe. I am looking forward to continuing these very positive discussions,” she explained.
According to the Australian Trucking Association’s (ATA) CEO Ben Maguire, the state government is listening to the industry with regards to safety.
The ATA has submitted a plan in which it suggests better road crash investigation among other suggestions,
“We have put forward a broad-ranging plan, including better road crash investigation, more consultation on telematics, a focus on building safety features into roads and improvements to both car and truck driver training,” said Maguire. “We will meet again this week to talk about the truck technology now available. We all recognise, though, that the safety discussion needs to include an understanding of what has caused the increase in truck-related fatalities. This is now squarely on the agenda.”
Livestock, Bulk and Rural Carriers Association (LBRCA) Chief Operating Officer, Bec Coleman also weighed in on the issue, stating that Minister Pavey had opened her doors to the LBRCA to understand the problems facing the industry better.
Coleman said that since discussions between government and industry began, Minister Pavey has began a number of safety-focused initiatives which included increasing the number of roadside drug tests conducted and allocating more funding to the NSW Crashlab to promote safer vehicles.
The governments plan to investigate causes of the increase in multi-vehicle crashes involving heavy vehicles was welcomed by Road Freight NSW CEO, Simon O’Hara.
“Our urban member businesses are especially concerned about multi-vehicle crashes, which are very often not the fault of the truck driver,” said O’Hara. “These have spiked over the last year, and we need to know why.”
Find out more at http://www.primemovermag.com.au/news/article/nsw-government-to-work-with-industry-on-truck-safety-plan