Truckies’ safety drive

Pilbara truckies are among those being warned to take extra caution on the road as travel restrictions begin to lift in WA, after a nationwide report revealed a surge in major crashes involving trucks in 2019.

National Transport Insurance last week released the findings of its probe into the cause of large vehicle accidents last year, which found there were almost 100 more serious incidents compared with the previous two years, with the number of drivers who died last year 21/2 times higher than in 2017.

The report also found in 80 per cent of all serious crashes involving cars and trucks, the car driver was at fault.

NTI chief executive Tony Clark said it was an important reminder for us all to do the right thing on our roads.

“We had been on a downward trend of heavy vehicle-related deaths and had hoped to hit zero within the next decade, but tragically, last year we saw more loss of life, not just for truckies but all road users,” he said.

While the exact reason for the increase in deaths was unknown, the 2020 NTARC report found two of every three crashes were the result of fatigue and distraction.

“The report found the number of truck-driver deaths caused by distraction more than doubled in the past two years,” Mr Clark said.

“Another worrying trend we saw was that 82 per cent of the crashes involving truck drivers aged 25 years and under were caused by distraction.”

New legislation in WA has been introduced to target distracted driving.