Truck stop highlights fatigue
Operation of a fatigue stop for truck drivers, just south of Dannevirke, was in full swing on Thursday morning, March 12.
It was a combined exercise between Horizons Regional Council Road Safety and Roadsafe Hawke’s Bay to highlight driver fatigue.
Drivers were asked to pull into Hargreaves yard to receive a hot drink, food, a free health check and some literature about driver fatigue.
Horizon’s road safety officer Debbie Webster says: “Ninety trucks were pulled in off the road. Some chose to stop for a break while others were offered the information pack and allowed to carry on their journey. Sixty-five health checks were done. Very few drivers turned the health check down which was fantastic. One driver decided to sign up to the ‘Quit Smoking’ hotline after his health check and further discussion with the health nurse.”
In 2015 58 people died and a further 808 were injured in road crashes involving trucks. This represents 18 per cent of all road deaths and 7 per cent of all reported road injuries. Eightythree per cent of those who died were not truck occupants and the leading cause of death was head-on collisions. Where a truck driver has primary responsibility for the accident the prime reason is loss of control/running off the road.
Fatal truck crashes have been declining since 2000 but plateaued in 2008 and since then the driver fatigue issue has been a focus.
Some of the stories from Thursday’s drivers illustrate the issue of long hours on the road. One driver had travelled to Dannevirke from Wellington and was on his way to Napier to pick up more supplies. He was waiting to hear where he was going in the afternoon, probably to Taranaki.
Another in the previous two days had travelled from Wellington to Christchurch and back along Highway 70. He said while the road is not too bad, drivers are travelling too fast, there being four accidents on Wednesday with a further two that morning. It is a 960 kilometre, 15-hour round trip.