Truckie begs motorists to slow down

Pilbara road trains contend with near misses every day of the week because local drivers are in too much of a rush, one Hedland truck driver says.

The comments come after a fatal collision between a Toyota Hilux and a road train along the Great Northern Highway on November 1.

The incident led to the death of a 31-year-old Kalgoorlie man, Gerard Scully.

South Hedland Senior Sergeant Dean Snashall said police might never know the cause of the crash and ruled out speed, alcohol and drugs as being involved.

He said South Hedland police were investigating, with a report to be supplied to Main Roads at a later date.

A spokeswoman for RAC said the road users group could not comment on the stretch of highway where the man died while investigations were ongoing, but said it was not listed on its risky roads report card.

So far this year 71 people have died on the roads of Regional WA. There have been an estimated 2,372 serious injuries on the States roads so far this year.

Last year there were 105 fatal crashes on roads in regional WA. This was up from 73 in 2013.

One Hedland truck driver, who asked not to be named for fear he could lose his job, said he had been behind the wheel of heavy-haulage trucks for decades and was frustrated with impatient and dangerous drivers, particularly around close of business hours.

“Every single day, if not 10 times a day, I hear of near misses over the (truck) radio,” he said.

“People will bust their backsides to (speed) out in front of a road train.

"Thirty or 40 odd years ago we had major TV advertising campaigns educating people and now we have nothing. There’s not enough education.”

His complaints come as the WA Insurance Commission said regional drivers were overrepresented in crash statistics, with the State Government body paying out $14 million in claims to people injured in crashed in the Pilbara up to october this year.

But the driver also said authorities needed to do more to improve local roads.

He said people had their heads in the sand if they believed there were not safety concerns along the Great Northern Highway bypass where the recent accident occurred.

However, Pilbara Superintendent Jo McCabe said it was critical truck drivers reported all near-miss incidents to police.

She said truck drivers knew local roads like the back of their hands and her Pilbara traffic team would listen closely to complaints and consider using the information to launch an operation to assess road safety.

“To understand how great the issue is we need the reports,” Supt. McCabe said. “We can actually do something about people’s carelessness, even if it is a close call.

“That one call that they make to us… might be enough to save a life the next time.”