Casr report series

1Introduction

Table 1.1

Coinciding with the growth of the freight task and numbers of heavy vehicles are increases in numbers of other vehicle types on the road network including passenger cars and motorcycles. Table 1 .2 shows the growth in ownership of all vehicle types from 2005 to 2010 as reported in the Australian Bureau of Statistics 2010 motor vehicle survey (ABS, 2011). The number of registered passenger vehicles has increased by 12.6%, motorcycle ownership rose by 56.5%, and the number of light commercial vehicles also rose by 21.2%, all since 2005. With such growth rates, improving road safety across the entire road network will continue to be a significant issue for the trucking industry as well as all other road users.

Table 1.2
Growth of registered vehicles from 2005 to 2010 (Source: ABS, 2011)

A study comparing the heavy vehicle safety performance of Australia’s road transport industry to the USA, Canada, New Zealand, the UK, France, Germany, and Sweden (Haworth, Vulcan, & Sweatman, 2002) found that Australia’s heavy vehicle fatality rate per kilometre travelled was 47% higher than the US and 39% higher than the UK, comparable to Germany and Canada, 20% lower than Sweden, 45% lower than France, and 55% lower than New Zealand. This study concluded that Australia’s poorer performance in comparison to the US and the UK was largely due to Australian trucks doing less travel on divided and limited access roads. Truck speed limits may also have contributed to the higher fatality rate observed in Australia compared to the UK and US.

Statistics for road crashes involving heavy vehicles provided by the Bureau of Infrastructure, Transport, and Regional Economics (BITRE, 2011) indicate that in the 12 month period to the end of June 2010 a total of 160 fatalities were recorded from 130 crashes involving articulated trucks, with a further 79 fatalities from 64 crashes involving heavy rigid trucks. As such, a considerable proportion of the nation’s road toll can be attributed to crashes involving heavy vehicles. It should, however, be noted that the majority of these crashes are brought about by the actions of the drivers of light vehicles (Craft, 2007; Hakkanen & Summala, 2001; Hanowski, Hickman, Wierwille, & Keisler, 2007). Regardless, the impact of crashes involving heavy vehicles is borne by the drivers involved and their families, the trucking industry, and other road users.

Figure 1 .1 depicts the trends in heavy vehicle safety observed from 1982 to 2007. The red line shows that articulated heavy vehicle fatal crash numbers have remained relatively constant since 1991. However, considering the increase in the number of articulated heavy vehicles (the blue line) it is clear that road safety gains have been achieved despite increased exposure. This can be observed with the success of B-doubles, which carry almost 50% of the freight task and account for less than 30% of heavy vehicle crashes, compared to semi-trailers that account for 60% of heavy vehicle crashes and carry around 40% of the freight task. The most significant gains in heavy vehicle road safety over this period are attributable to mass road safety initiatives that have improved safety for all road users, particularly improvements to the road network (including divided highways and sealed shoulders), reduced speed limits, and improvements in vehicle design. Heavy vehicle specific measures that have likely contributed to further safety gains include the introduction of fatigue management procedures and regulations, and safety accreditation.

An organised, coordinated approach to heavy vehicle road safety amongst all stakeholders is necessary to ensure both the safety of drivers (indeed all road users), and the productivity of the trucking industry. In order to facilitate and inform such an approach it is necessary to have some understanding of existing knowledge and identify important areas where future research is required to fill existing knowledge gaps. This research scan is intended to develop a knowledge base that may be used to guide the strategic direction and development of effective outcomes in the area of heavy vehicle safety.

Figure 1.1

Safe systems approach

The approach takes a global view of road safety and considers the interaction between people, the road environment and vehicles. The key principles of the Safe System approach includes the following:

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  Human Factors: acceptance that people make mistakes and that the road system should accommodate these mistakes when crashes occur.
  
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  Human Frailty: the human body can only tolerate a certain amount of force before serious injury or a fatality can be expected in a crash.
  
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  Forgiving Designs: the roads that we travel on, the vehicles we travel in and the speeds that we travel at need to be more forgiving of errors by road users.
  
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  Shared responsibility: everyone has a responsibility to use the road safely and professionals have a responsibility to design, manage and encourage the safe use of the transport system.