Heavy vehicle safety
Around 12 heavy vehicle drivers and 59 other road users are killed each year on Victoria’s roads from crashes involving heavy vehicles. As Victoria’s freight task grows, heavy vehicle traffic will also increase. A range of actions – including ongoing improvements to road and roadside infrastructure – will be needed to ensure that this increase in traffic does not result in a higher incidence of heavy vehicle crash casualties.
The First Action Plan delivers a major new package of initiatives designed to reduce crashes involving trucks, improve the driving practices of other road users sharing the road with heavy vehicles and improve safety for heavy vehicle drivers.
| Area of action |
Actions |
| Public education |
- Undertake campaigns to educate road users to share the road safely with heavy vehicles.
- Work with the Transport Industry Safety Group to increase take up of safer heavy vehicles and examine other heavy vehicle safety issues.
- Promote take up of heavy vehicle safety features, such as intelligent seat belt reminder systems, underrun systems and strengthened cabins.
- Work with industry groups and stakeholders to introduce workplace testing for alcohol and drugs for heavy vehicle drivers.
- Undertake education and awareness campaigns targeted at:
- heavy fleet operators to encourage the voluntary use of vehicle alcohol interlocks
- addressing the drug related crash risk for heavy vehicle operators
- encouraging heavy vehicle operator take up of vehicles fitted with intelligent speed assist (ISA).
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| Infrastructure |
- Review all level crossings to ensure they accommodate the safety requirements of heavy vehicles. These safety requirements include adequate sight distances for drivers approaching crossings to provide safe clearance times, and sufficient queuing space beyond crossings for trucks that pass through the crossing and need to wait for other traffic control devices.
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| Enforcement |
- Improve enforcement of heavy vehicle speed limiter compliance by introducing the widespread use of electronic engine data readers.
- Through a code of conduct, encourage heavy vehicle operators to ensure the roadworthiness of a vehicle at all times.
- Better enforcement through regulatory or legislative change to require clear identification of heavy vehicles.
- Encourage heavy vehicle operators to achieve safer standards through accreditation with national standards, including those related to fatigue, vehicle maintenance and mass limits.
- Work with the heavy vehicle industry to enforce Chain of Responsibility laws and publicise the outcome of successful prosecutions to promote compliance with the laws across the industry. The Chain of Responsibility [HS1] means that anybody, not just the driver, who has control in a transport operation can be held responsible for breaches of road laws and may be made legally liable.
- Increase targeted drug testing activity during high risk times and on high risk routes.
- Trial the ‘Targeted Level Crossing Enforcement’ project, where rail operators and local communities identify and implement safety measures tailored to reduce risks at specific rail level crossings.
- Introduce tougher penalties for heavy vehicle drivers who fail to obey traffic signals at
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| Legislation |
- Introduce legislation to streamline detection and enforcement of speed limiter tampering.
- Increase speeding penalties for drivers of heavy vehicles (buses or motor vehicles or combinations of more than 4.5 tonnes) to match the existing penalties for drivers of large heavy vehicles. In addition, the penalties for drivers of heavy vehicles that disobey traffic control signals (traffic lights, stop signs, give way signs, level crossing controls) will also be increased.
- Implement national driver fatigue management reform.
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| Research and data |
- Trial new technologies to assist in monitoring and detecting fatigue and speed related driving behaviour among heavy vehicle operators.
- Explore a business model for the heavy vehicle industry that acknowledges the relationships between safety, profitability and environmental outcomes.
- Engage the freight industry in identifying the ‘standard bearers’ for safety and promote the take up of identified best practice in road safety by the rest of the industry.
- Investigate hazard warning systems that would provide in-vehicle alerts at high risk locations.
- Work with the transport industry and other jurisdictions to evaluate the introduction of tachograph technology as a requirement for all new vehicles operating in Victoria and examine retro-fitting options for this technology.
- Introduce trials of new technologies to assist in tackling tailgating and/or enforcing following distance requirements.
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