Advanced emergency braking would save lives: ATA

The Australian Trucking Association CEO Ben Maguire has said that the Australian Government should require all new trucks to be fitted with advanced emergency braking technology.

Mr Maguire was releasing the ATA’s response to the Infrastructure Department’s regulatory impact statement on requiring autonomous emergency braking (AEB) for new trucks.

Autonomous emergency braking is a safety system that generates a collision warning and then applies emergency braking if there is a danger of a rear end collision with a vehicle in the same lane.

“In conjunction with extending mandatory electronic stability control, or ESC, to new rigid trucks, requiring autonomous emergency braking for all new trucks would save more than a hundred lives and prevent more than 2500 serious injuries,” Mr Maguire said.

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“It’s an incredible safety technology. Making it a requirement for new trucks is one of the ATA’s safety priorities.

“It’s particularly important that AEBS and ESC are mandated for new rigid trucks on the timeframe proposed in the RIS: November 2020 for new-model rigid trucks and November 2022 for new rigid trucks generally.

“As a result of years of effort, the number of fatal crashes involving semi-trailers and other articulated trucks shows a clear downward trend. In contrast, the number of fatal crashes involving rigid trucks is increasing.

“As Australia’s urban population grows and transport infrastructure construction peaks, the number of crashes involving rigid trucks will continue to increase – unless action like this is taken.”

Mr Maguire called on the Transport Workers’ Union and its national secretary, Michael Kaine, to support the ATA’s strong stance on safety technology.

“The ATA is working closely with road safety experts and our members to lobby for better safety. This submission is another example of how we are putting forward well-researched, evidence based initiatives that we know will make a difference,” he said.