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Australian Supercars star and current commentator Garth Tander will head a new heavy vehicle safety campaign which encourages all road users to give trucks space.
NHVR CEO Sal Petroccitto said the We Need Space campaign would provide advice on how light vehicle drivers should act when they are around trucks.
“Recent research shows that light vehicles cause up to four-out-of-five crashes involving heavy vehicles,” Mr Petroccitto said.
“Being aware of simple safety tips such as a truck’s blind spot, allowing extra distance for a heavy vehicle to brake and the space needed to turn can reduce the risk for all road users.
“Having a driver of the quality of Garth Tander keen to learn more about driving safely around trucks shows that everyone can still learn about driver safety on our roads.
“Across Australia we’ve seen a gradual decline in heavy vehicle fatalities from 220 in 2014 to 177 in 2018, but that figure is still too high.”
Mr Tander was Australian Supercars Champion in 2007, won three Bathurst 1000s at Mount Panorama, and finished first and second in the Bathurst 24hr Race.
He’s joined in the campaign by truck driver Kerri Connors, who was named Tasmania’s best professional truck driver at the Tasmanian Transport Industry awards in October 2018.
Mr Petroccitto said the campaign would include three videos and a range of information and fact sheets for light vehicle drivers.
“It’s important that all road users are aware that a truck is difficult to manoeuvre, it has large blindspots and can have unpredictable traffic coming from behind, alongside and in front,” he said.
“When you add it all together, it really does take a lot of skill for a truck driver to get from point A to point B safely and all road users need to play a role in the safety of that journey.”
The We Need Space Campaign was funded by $250,000 from the NHVR’s Heavy Vehicle Safety Initiative program, supported by the Commonwealth Government.
For more information visit www.weneedspace.com.au
Garth Tander
Garth is one of the stars of Australia’s Supercars Championship. He was the Supercars Champion in 2007, won three Bathurst 1000s at Mount Panorama, and finished first and second in the only two Bathurst 24hr races. He is currently a co-driver for the Red Bull Holden Racing Team in the Supercars Enduro series and one of Australia’s most professional and respected athletes. He is a regular guest on the Network 10 show RPM.
Kerri Connors
Kerri has been driving trucks for over 20 years across several states and is a passionate heavy vehicle safety advocate. Kerri has driven for the Australian Army, Toll, Linfox, Chas Kelly and her employer of the past 10 years, Caltas, where she drives a Volvo FM500 fuel tanker. In 2017 Kerri won the national Volvo Drivers’ Fuel Challenge and later placed third in the international competition in Sweden. In October 2018, she was named Tasmania’s best professional truck driver at the Tasmanian Transport Industry awards in October 2018, receiving the NTI 2018 Professional Driver of the Year Award.