Fatal truck crash rate falls 80%

Wednesday, 18 May, 2016

New figures released by the Australian Trucking Association (ATA) show that the rate of fatal articulated truck crashes fell 80% between 1982 and 2015.

During this time, the number of cars has grown substantially on Australian roads and the number of articulated trucks has doubled.

The ATA said the fall in fatalities is largely due to better roads, improvements in vehicle design, stronger laws and the trucking industry’s commitment to safety.

Christopher Melham, chief executive officer of the ATA, is using the latest statistics as momentum for articulating the association’s priorities leading up to the federal election.

“Safety is always the trucking industry’s first priority,” said Melham.

“But even one accident is one too many. That’s why the ATA is using this election campaign to call on political parties and candidates in this election campaign to support practical measures to improve road safety.”

Just last week, the ATA challenged political parties and candidates to commit to mandating stability control for trucks and trailers.

“Stability control is an outstanding safety tool. There is compelling evidence that it would save lives, and it would open the way to even more advanced safety technologies that would save even more lives in the future,” said Melham.

“In contrast, there is no proven link between the price fixing established by the former Road Safety Remuneration Tribunal (RSRT) and safety. The safety figures used by the TWU to justify the tribunal have been shown to be flawed.

“Instead of improving safety, the RSRT made small trucking businesses uncompetitive and imposed an enormous paperwork burden on the industry.”

The latest figures were compiled from government statistics by the Centre for Automotive Safety Research (CASR) at the University of Adelaide.

Below is a graph showing the fatal crash rate per articulated vehicle, which includes semitrailers and b-double combinations.