Electronic Stability Control will help save lives when it is made mandatory in 2019 and 2020 for some heavy vehicles
Changes to the rules that govern vehicle and trailer manufacturers in Australia will save lives, the Australian Trucking Association (ATA) says, welcoming a government announcement today.
Urban infrastructure minister Paul Fletcher said the Australian Design Rules (ADRs) will make Electronic Stability Control (ESC) mandatory for new model heavy vehicle trailers, weighing over 10 tonnes, from July 1, 2019 and for all new trailers weighing over 10t from November 1 that year.
It will be introduced for some new model heavy trucks and buses from November 1 2020, and all new trucks in those categories from November 1, 2022.
ATN understands that new road train converter dollies will be exempt from the stability control requirement because of issues with the technology in the rough conditions encountered by road trains in rural and remote areas. Non-standard low loaders will also be exempt.
The change, which brings Australia into line with rules currently in place in Europe and the US, is aimed and reducing heavy vehicle rollovers and similar loss-of-control crashes, he said.
Fletcher says about 20 per cent of the roughly 200 deaths in heavy truck or bus crashes in Australia every year are linked to rollovers or a loss of control.
“By having advanced braking systems fitted we can save an estimated 126 lives and reduce the number of serious injuries by more than 1,000 over the period of regulation,” he saysin a statement.
For ATA chairman Geoff Crouch, mandating the stability control technology, an initiative his organisation has lobbied hard for, will be a lifesaver.
“As a result of lobbying from the ATA and other stakeholders, the final design rules extend the mandate to include short wheel base rigid trucks weighing more than 12 tonnes,” Crouch says.
“This decision is projected to save another two lives over the years and prevent an extra 17 serious injuries when compared to the original proposal.”
Crouch says the next step in advancing truck safety technology should be Autonomous Emergency Braking (AEB) for all new trucks.
The National Road Transport Association (NatRoad) also praises the change, saying it is particularly pleased that, when the Road Vehicle Standards Bills become law, the legislation will specifically recognise heavy vehicles to ensure that the already complex laws don’t cause additional problems.
NatRoad chief executive Warren Clark said his organisation had made a number of submissions to government, seeking a guarantee that the legislation would not have unintended consequences for the sector.
Recent government moves to amend the draft rules to allow for the modification of heavy vehicles before their provision to a customer would help provide certainty to operators, retailers, importers and the manufacturing industry, he said.
Currently, truck cabs and chassis built in Australia or imported from overseas are modified to meet Australian standards, these modifications include fitting of a fifth wheel.
“Under the original draft, it was not clear if the legislation would: require an additional manufacturing stage to make mandated modifications legal, impact on the process for registering as an Approved Vehicle, or even create a compliance risk for those who modified or drove modified vehicles,” Clark says.
“Remembering that the modifications undertaken are required by law to meet Australian standards, the potential unforeseen consequences would have been counterintuitive. Especially when we know the current national and state registration systems have resulted in an Australian heavy vehicle fleet with exceptional levels of roadworthiness.”