Crashes remain on right track though heavy rigids rate lags, BITRE stats show
In what will be a relief for all parties, the articulated truck fatality trend is accelerating downward, the latest Bureau of Infrastructure, Transport and Regional Economics (BITRE) figures show.
Even the recalcitrant heavy rigid sector has dipped, albeit just slightly, in the third quarter of calendar year.
Overall, during the 12 months to the end of September 2018, 169 people died from 152 fatal crashes involving heavy trucks.
These included 93 deaths from 84 crashes involving articulated trucks, 86 deaths from 76 crashes involving heavy rigid trucks and 10 deaths from 8 crashes involving both a heavy rigid truck and an articulated truck.
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With articulated truck figures doing the heavy lifting, fatal crashes involving heavy trucks decreased by 10.1 per cent compared with the corresponding period one year earlier (from 169 to 152 crashes) and by an average of 2.2 per cent per year over the three years to September.
The 2018 year-to-September fatal truck crash figure of 152 is a 10-year low, beating out 2013’s 162, and reflects well against 2008’s 229.
Fatal crashes involving articulated trucks decreased by 16 per cent compared with the corresponding period one year earlier – from 100 to 84 crashes – and decreased by an average of 1.6 per cent per year over the three years to September 2018.
On a regional basis, Queensland experienced a four-crash year-to-September uptick to 24 on the previous period and Western Australia a six crash spike to 13. Three other mainland states saw a fall of between 35.9-40.9 per cent.
Fatal crashes involving heavy rigid trucks were unchanged compared with the corresponding period one year earlier at 76 crashes but increased by an average of 0.3 per cent per year over the three years to September 2018. But rigids so far this year have remained under 20 fatal crashes a quarter – 18, 17 and 18 – having stayed just above 20 – 21, 20 and 23 – in the preceding three quarters.
On a regional basis, Victoria experienced a year-to-September fall of 23.5 per cent, form 17 to 13, while New South Wales saw its figure fall 6.9 per cent, or two fatal crashes, to 27.