TRUCKS are 2.7 times more likely than other vehicles to be involved in a fatal crash.
Also, according to the Transport Accident Commission, one in six fatal crashes on Victoria’s roads involves trucks.
In the decade to last year, 689 people died in 594 truck crashes.
Another 245 people were seriously injured in those accidents and 4139 others were seriously injured in 3504 non-fatal truck crashes.
The often deadly impact of trucks was put into sharp focus by the death of three motorists in last month’s horrific Burnley Tunnel inferno.
State Coroner Graeme Johnstone recently opened an inquest into the tunnel disaster.
The Herald Sun has learnt that a month before the tragedy, the Coroner joined a seemingly prescient push to make trucks safer.
In a DVD by Victoria’s Transport Industry Safety Group, Mr Johnstone outlined the human cost of a major truck crash and said it was up to truck fleet owners to provide safe equipment.
He said the trauma of a major fatal truck crash to victims’ families, witnesses, those in the crash, especially the truck driver (should he or she survive), would last the rest of their lives.
Industry insiders told the Herald Sun many deaths and injuries could be prevented if more trucks were fitted with modern safety features.
They said Australia’s truck safety standards lagged behind Europe and North America, where such measures as anti-skid brakes, electronic braking, electronic stability control and electronic log books either were law or in common use.
All prime movers in Europe and North America have to be fitted with anti-lock braking systems (ABS). In Australia, only B-double prime movers and B-double trailers carrying dangerous goods need ABS.
Front under run protection — a heavy metal bar that stops smaller vehicles being crushed under a prime mover — is removed from trucks sold here by some European makers to make them lighter.
The bar is one of a raft of safety measures being recommended to truck buyers by the Transport Industry Safety Group, which includes the State Coroner, police, VicRoads,WorkSafe, the Transport Workers Union, the Victorian Transport Association and the TAC.
The group’s DVD also says buyers should demand ABS; electronic braking and stability systems; and front, side and rear under run protection.
Airbags, adaptive cruise control to keep trucks a safe distance from other traffic and to warn when a truck is leaving its lane are also recommended.
“Safety can pay,” TAC senior road safety manager David Healy said.
“These features not only reduce the likelihood of death and injury to drivers and other road users but lower truck repair and replacement costs and increase a truck’s resale value.”
The group’s chairman, Transport Association chief Philip Lovel, urged operators not to wait for new safety laws.
On average Australia’s truck fleet is 15 years old, with new trucks bought by long-haul operators often passed down to short-haul operators.
The group’s vice-chairman, TWU boss Bill Noonan, said life-saving electronic stability control should be mandatory for all new trucks.
Safety experts say installing ESC on all vehicles could halve the number of fatal crashes.
Mr Noonan and Mr Lovel said in other safety moves 15,000 truck drivers had been tested for sleep apnoea, diabetes and hypertension.
Mr Noonan said it did not matter how many safety devices a truck had if the driver was tired, either through long hours or medical problems.
The National Transport Commission has called for comment on making ABS mandatory for all new prime movers and all trailers carrying dangerous goods.
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