Half learner drivers don't know how to drive safely around trucks, heavy vehicle regulator says
Yesterday at 04:00 PM
Regulators launch safety campaign aimed at learner drivers after research reveals half haven’t had any training how to behave on the roads around large vehicles with limited visibility.
Only half of learner drivers have learnt how to drive safely around trucks, based on new research by a key industry regulator.
According to the National Heavy Vehicle Regulator (NHVR), only 52 per cent of learner drivers have done practical lessons driving alongside trucks.
As a result, the NHVR is using a Schoolies hotspot on the Gold Coast to try to educate teenage drivers about to hit the roads over summer, of the dangers they need to be aware of.
"Understanding how to drive safely around trucks is one part of ensuring these young people will thrive in life beyond high school," said NHVR CEO Sal Petroccitto OAM.
"Getting your licence and going on road-trips, drive-through runs or other day-to-day activities all involve sharing the road with heavy vehicles.
"From our research, only half of learner drivers have done practical lessons driving alongside trucks, so if we can help spread the message about how to do so safely, then we can help to save lives."
As part of the NHVR's latest safety campaign, young drivers celebrating at the Schoolies Nation Festival on Seaworld Drive, on Queensland’s Gold Coast, will have the opportunity to go inside the back of semi-trailer and take part in a video arcade game to test their road knowledge.
According to the regulator, common poor driving behaviour around trucks involves things like; being impatient and not giving large vehicles enough room when overtaking, 'ghosting' them by sitting in their blind-spot, and getting too close or cutting in front of a truck without leaving them enough time to stop.
The news comes as toll provider Transurban's latest Insights Road Safety report has found that only three per cent of the 3000 drivers aged 18 and older surveyed could correctly identify all five truck blind spots.
The organisation says awareness of these blind spots has dropped by nine per cent since 2022.
The post Half learner drivers don’t know how to drive safely around trucks, heavy vehicle regulator says appeared first on Drive.
