Recommendations to Reduce Road Toll Released by ATA

In a submission to the Australian Government,  the Australian Trucking Association (ATA) makes a  number of recommendations which it believes would help reduce fatalities on Australian roads to zero, a tall order given that 1225 people lost their lives on the road in 2017.

The ATA made 19 recommendations for the national road safety strategy including mandatory electronic stability control for all new trucks and trailers. Here are some of the other recommendations made:

  • Another of the recommendations made is for the Transport and Infrastructure Council to update the Australian Transport Assessment and Planning guidelines to only use willingness to pay for estimating the cost of fatalities and injuries in accidents.
  • The ATA also recommended independent, no-blame safety investigations be carried out by the Australian Transport Safety Bureau following road accidents involving heavy vehicles.
  • The ATA wants data gathered from road crash investigations to be used when investing in road safety infrastructure and upgrading road safety standards.
  • The submission also identified fatigue laws, which the ATA says needs improvement in flexibility and realistic compliance tolerances.
  • The government was called on to increase driver rest areas and make them better.
  • The submission also called for the education of new and current drivers on how to share the road properly with heavy vehicles to reduce the road death toll.

Find out more at http://www.primemovermag.com.au/news/article/ata-release-recommendations-to-reduce-road-toll