MUARC partners with transport industry to undertake road safety research.
Monash University Accident Research Centre (MUARC) and the National Road Safety Partnership Program (NRSPP) have partnered with the Truck Industry Council (TIC) to improve heavy vehicle drivers’ vision of vulnerable road users (VRU).
The project aims to provide a vision assessment framework for heavy vehicles used primarily in urban areas, along with evidence-based, cost effective and practical recommendations guiding the implementation of measures addressing the driver and the vehicle.
VRUs are road users not in a car, bus or truck, generally considered to include pedestrians, motorcycle riders, cyclists, children seven-years and under, the elderly and users of mobility devices.
There is currently little international regulation governing vision requirements for heavy vehicles, with VRU’s particularly vulnerable to serious injury or fatal outcomes.
Each year across Australia, four pedestrians are killed and 14 hospitalised in impacts involving a rigid truck in speed zones of 60 km/h or less, with two thirds of these in metropolitan areas and the remainder in regional Australia.
The partnership spans expertise over a variety of practical and research areas, ensuring there is a consistent focus on the development of solutions that are not only based on the best available research evidence but are also firmly grounded in real-world implementation among drivers and operators.
MUARC, is a multi-disciplinary organisation, undertaking research into accident and injury causes and prevention across all modes of transport, in the workplace, in the community and the home.
They say their goal is to prevent injury, save lives, and build futures.
The collaborative project received over $260,000 in funding by the Australian Automobile Association (AAA) Road Safety Research Program.
An Expert Advisory Group (EAG) will be formed to provide regular input and ensure that project recommendations are practical, relevant and able to be implemented, with the project aiming to be completed around November 2024.