A new pop-up event was held at Sydney’s Bondi Beach Pavilion on Sunday to help improve young drivers’ awareness and education of how to drive safely around trucks.
A part of National Heavy Vehicle Regulator (NHVR’s), Don’t #uck With A Truck campaign, the event featured a replica of a light vehicle built out of sand to show young drivers how fragile their car really is when up against a heavy vehicle.
Standing close to the life-size sand car was a Vellex Group truck to demonstrate the scale and impact heavy vehicles can have on light vehicles and those driving them.
The Don’t #uck With A Truck campaign was created to start important conversations around road safety and encourage young drivers to develop positive long-term driving behaviours, said Road Freight New South Wales (RFNSW) CEO Simon O’Hara, who attended the event.
“It was a great event. We had lots of people turn up and chat to us about the issue. It was a really worthwhile day on a beautiful iconic Bondi Beach on a sunny day in the middle of winter,” O’Hara told Big Rigs.
“The event was at getting the message to young drivers, particularly L and P plate holders that they are fragile on the road and that fast decisions sometimes have long consequences.
“So when you’re interacting with a heavy vehicle, you need to ensure that you’re cautious, that you’re prudent, and that you know a couple of things.
“First thing would be that trucks have blind spots. Be mindful of them because trucks’ blind spots are more pronounced than they are in light vehicles.
“If you stop suddenly with heavy vehicles behind you, then they may not have the same capacity to be able to stop as quickly as you do.
“Don’t cut into trucks because again, they don’t have the capacity to stop and slow down as quickly as you do. Be mindful of how you drive on the road to ensure that you give as much warning as possible to heavy vehicles about your intentions.
“It is really important that you know the capacity of heavy vehicles on the road so that you can act accordingly.”
O’Hara said that in incidents involving heavy vehicles and lights vehicles almost 70 per cent of those involve and arise as a result of the light vehicle driver’s action and fault.
“It is particularly important that young drivers, who we all know make fast decisions and their insurance premiums reflect that, have a re-think on how they’re interacting with heavy vehicles and other vehicles on the road.”
For more information, visit the NHVR website.