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trucks and trailers
Heavy vehicle operators and other road users will soon be safer on the roads following new Australian Design Rules (ADRs) aimed at reducing heavy vehicle rollovers and similar loss-of-control crashes.
ADR 35/06 for trucks and 38/05 for trailers will mandate Electronic Stability Control (ESC) for new heavy vehicle trailers from July 2019 and for selected new heavy trucks and buses from November 2020.
This will bring the same life-saving technology to Australia as is currently required in
Europe, the US and other markets.
The new requirement will apply to certain categories of new model heavy trucks from
1 November 2020, and all new trucks in those categories from 1 November 2022.
The requirement will apply to all new model heavy trailers weighing more than 10 tonnes from 1 July 2019 and all new heavy trailers weighing more than 10 tonnes from
1 November 2019.
More than 200 people are killed on Australian roads each year as a result of fatal
crashes involving heavy trucks or buses.
Approximately 20 percent of those deaths can be linked to rollovers or loss of control, so by having advanced braking systems fitted we can save an estimated 126 lives and reduce the number of serious injuries by more than 1000 over the period of regulation.
These changes will greatly improve safety
for all motorists and reduce the impact of road trauma on Australian communities by an estimated $216 million.
Heavy vehicles typically have large masses, long length and relatively long stopping distances when compared with light vehicles, thereby increasing both the risk and severity of crashes involving heavy vehicles.
Many heavy truck and bus rollovers involve only one vehicle and fitting ESC will, in many cases, prevent these kinds of crashes occurring.
Feedback from industry and road agencies to a Regulation Impact Statement released earlier this year indicated broad support for the introduction of new ADRs for ESC and related Roll Stability Control (RSC) systems.
Industry and governments have been active in encouraging, or requiring the use of advanced braking systems such as ESC, Antilock Brake Systems (ABS), Electronic Braking Systems (EBS) and RSC in heavy vehicles.
Peak industry bodies have also worked in partnership with the Commonwealth to minimise the regulatory costs, including by harmonising the ADR as much as possible with other major markets around the world.
Consideration of ESC was an agreed action under action item 16(c) of the National Road Safety Strategy 2011-2020 and action item 8 of the National Road Safety Action Plan 2015-2017.
Heavy vehicles represent three percent of registered Australian vehicles and account for just over eight percent of total vehicle kilometres travelled on public roads, but on average, they are involved in close to 17 percent of fatal crashes.
The new ADRs can be found on the Federal Register of Legislation at www.legislation. gov.au/Details/F2018L00664 (ADR 35/06) and www.legislation.gov.au/Details/ F2018L00692 (ADR 38/05), including the final Regulation Impact Statement (RIS) (https://www.legislation.gov.au/Details/ F2018L00664/Download).
An overview of the new requirements and changes to the ADRs can be found in Appendix 11 of the RIS.
Truck | Feature
Regulating telematics
in heavy vehicles
The National Transport Commission (NTC) is set to work with industry to design a best-practice model for regulatory telematics in heavy vehicles to improve safety, productivity and compliance.
Telematics in heavy vehicles can provide a range of important information to operators, drivers and regulators, but more operators could gain these benefits.
According to NTC Chief Executive, Paul Retter, the NTC has been gathering data on who is using telematics and for what purposes, as part of a review of telematics.
The key recommendation of the review, endorsed at the May Transport and Infrastructure
Council meeting, is the development of a best- practice model for how telematics can be used for compliance and enforcement.
“We are co-designing a best-practice model along with the National Heavy Vehicle Regulator, road transport agencies, the road transport industry, Transport Certification Australia and technology providers,” Mr Retter said.
“There are many advantages to this technology. Fleet operators can do remote monitoring, track engine hours, fuel usage, and live analytics. Drivers can use telematics for better route guidance and electronic work diaries. Regulators can use telematics to improve the efficiency of compliance and enforcement,” he said.
Feedback from industry indicated that a lack of consistent policy on how telematics data would be used by regulators had impacted on the uptake of telematics technology.
“By working towards a flexible, technology and application-neutral model we can provide that certainty to increase the uptake of this promising technology,” Mr Retter said.
The NTC’s review of telematics report
which includes the findings of the review
and recommendations is available on the NTC website.
Australian Design Rule changes for
www.saea.com.au
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