Stefan Bradley
VICTORIAN Transport Association (VTA), representing the state’s freight and logistics industry, brought its free regional road safety forum back to Sale on July 31, with the theme ‘Safety On Our Roads: Reducing The Risk Around Heavy Vehicles’.
About 70 attendees representing the Gippsland freight industry and operators sat down at the Sale Greyhound Racing Club on Wednesday morning to listen to speakers address this theme. Organisations represented were the VTA, WorkSafe Victoria, Department of Transport and Planning, Transport Accident Commission, WHG Telematics and Gallagher, all united to deliver important road safety updates from the state’s key transport and safety authorities.
The forums have been running in locations across the state for years, with the 2024 forums also visiting Portland and Wodonga.
David Ritchie, Commercial Manager, of VTA spoke very highly of the event’s turnout and its speakers.
“We (the VTA) set the tone on how to reduce incidents on the road, especially heavy vehicles. So, (attendees) will need to know how to influence and play their part in improving safety on the roads,” he said.
“Compared to heavy vehicles, a car in an accident involving a truck will come up second best, 100 per cent of the time due to the size, weight and volume of the truck.”
Tamie Haley, who is the National Heavy Vehicle Regulator Operations Manager for the Victoria Southern Region, said industries need to identify and communicate the risks around heavy vehicles, in particular driver fatigue. She also said organisations need to schedule regular maintenance, emphasising lights, reflectors, brakes and the structure of the vehicle.
“Fatigue is a huge (risk) factor for (the industry),” she said.
Sergeant Robert Long from the Heavy Vehicle Unit of Victoria Police said heavy vehicle risks on the road weren’t getting better.
“It’s gotten worse. Much worse,” he said.
He focused on three things: fatigue, securing vehicle load and maintaining the vehicle. If the industry and drivers take greater care of these three concerns, heavy vehicles can be safer on the road.
VTA Chief Executive, Peter Anderson had previously described the forums as one of the ways they seek to directly connect with regional operators and the communities they work and travel in, which informs their perspectives when speaking to lawmakers.
“Regional Victoria is a vital part of the state’s transport network as well as a major contributor to the economic health and vitality of the Victorian economy, and it’s critical we factor regional perspectives into our thinking when it comes to transport planning,” he said.
