THE AUSTRALIAN Trucking Association (ATA) has prepared a checklist of urban road safety measures for a heavy vehicle safety report.
The ATA contributed to the Austroads-commissioned ‘Improving Safety of Heavy Vehicles in Urban Areas’ report, which will offer a comprehensive understanding of the safety issues associated with heavy vehicles in Australia and New Zealand’s urban areas.
The aim of the report is to link the characteristics and causes of heavy vehicle crashes in urban areas and find outcomes that will make the roads a safer place for all drivers.
The authors of the report contacted industry stakeholders, including the ATA, to determine the road based factors behind truck crashes. The ATA responded by setting out a series of vital measures to make the road safer for truck drivers.
Measures include hazard assessments which consider a truck driver’s eye position within the road environment and the turning needs of trucks, sealing shoulders or providing compacted nil step down or step up shoulders, more truck-friendly roundabouts, and safe and secure urban rest areas.