The NSW government aims to take the national lead in addressing road trauma, taking a far more proactive approach than the ACT on tackling key issues in the years ahead under its new road safety action plan.
And it aims to be publicly transparent about its road safety successes and shortcomings, staging an annual conference each year to "disseminate information on road safety performance and identify further strategic opportunities to achieve trauma reduction targets".
In contrast to the ACT government, the NSW plan has clearly identified the risks posed by heavy vehicles operating in urban environments and has reaffirmed its full support for the UK-derived Construction Logistics and Community Safety (CLOCS) program.
The CLOCS program imposes tough restrictions and mandatory safety requirements on the heavy trucks and their drivers operating in close proximity to vulnerable road users, such as pedestrians and cyclists.
The ACT will not commit to introducing the same program, even though 60,000 cubic metres of fill, involving more than 3000 heavy vehicle movements, will be trucked into the ACT city centre over the next two years to raise London Circuit for the second stage of the light rail project.
The risks posed by these movements were among the issues highlighted in a recent focus on heavy vehicle safety by The Canberra Times and other Australian Community Media newspaper titles.
The series, entitled Blake's Legacy, was instigated as a direct result of the coronial findings into the 2018 death of four-year-old Blake Corney, who died as a result of catastrophic head injuries when the family vehicle in which he was travelling was hit from behind by a heavy vehicle on the Monaro Highway at Hume.
The driver was found culpable and imprisoned, yet the tragic incident also highlighted a number of major safety issues with heavy trucks. The federal government has only recently moved to address some of these issues.
The NSW plan aims to develop a safety rating program for heavy vehicles to provide operators with information on the safety performance of heavy vehicles and the level of occupant and public road user protection.
With vulnerable users at high risk from not being seen by heavy vehicle driver, it will also trial and encourage the uptake of low-cost retrofitted technology options to "increase vulnerable road user detection and warning on heavy vehicles and buses ... to improve direct vision from driver's position".
As part of its commitment to the CLOCS program, the NSW will:
- Promote the adoption of minimum heavy vehicle safety requirements (e.g. blind spot technology, underrun protection, lane departure and forward collision warnings);
- Promote requirements for heavy vehicle driver training and logistics planning; and
- Encourage other NSW agencies, local governments and major construction companies and transport operators to become program members.
The NSW government road safety plan also aims to roll out a number of other progressive actions including mandatory blood and urine testing to determine if cyclists involved in fatal road crashes were affected by drugs or alcohol.
It also wants to develop an incentive program to increase the use of motorcycle protective equipment measures, and seek to mandate the use of protective boots and gloves for novice riders to reduce serious injuries, and investigate making anti-lock braking systems standard on motorcycles which fit within the Learner Approved Motorcycle Scheme (LAMS).
It will also support a "wider scale rollout" of alcohol interlocks and/or other technologies (such as passive alcohol sensors) that prevent drink-driving; and roll out a pilot program that helps "young and more disadvantaged drivers" get first access to recent model fleet vehicles, with more safety protection, from government and corporate partners.
