THE peak body representing truck operators has called for a shake up in the way truck crashes are investigated.
It comes after a truck driver died in a horrific crash at Cooranbong which sparked a bushfire and shut the M1 Motorway on Monday.
The inferno ignited when a fuel tanker “clipped” a truck parked in the road shoulder, causing a tanker carrying ethanol to breach and explode.
Survive the drive: Shining the light on road safety
The driver of another truck, which was the last to collide with the pile-up, died at the scene. He was yet to be formally identified on Tuesday.
The driver of a Holden Commodore suffered minor burns and was treated at Wyong Hospital.
The driver of the truck parked in the road shoulder, a 34-year-old man, was uninjured.
And the 67-year-old male driver of the fuel tanker, which was carrying ethanol, escaped unscathed.
Australian Trucking Association chairman Geoff Crouch said “one fatality on our roads is one too many”, labelling road accidents involving trucks an “extremely urgent” problem.
He called on the federal government to give the Australian Transport Safety Bureau the power to investigate truck crashes and provide timely recommendations.
According to the latest statistics, NSW truck deaths increased 86 per cent in 12 months.
In the 12 months to September last year, deaths rose from 29 to 54, with NSW the only state to experience an increase.
“NSW is the only state to show a substantial increase in these accidents despite consistent regulations such as fatigue management,” Mr Crouch said. “The question is why is NSW the only state to buck the trend, and that needs to be investigated by the ATSB.
“All the federal government needs to do to is increase its resources, so it is able to investigate vehicle crashes and provide those recommendations.”
Two more died on NSW roads on Tuesday in a crash involving multiple trucks and cars in Dubbo.
