Since 1993 the number of fatal crashes involving articulated trucks has remained fairly stable – fluctuating around an average of about 190 crashes annually. On the other hand, fatal crashes for 2003 (144 crashes) were marginally the lowest on record since articulated truck data were first collated in the early 1980s. Between 1991 and 2002: • articulated truck numbers increased by 18 per cent; • kilometres travelled by articulated trucks increased by 37 per cent; and • tonne-kilometres increased by 70 per cent. On the basis of the population of Australia, the articulated truck fatal crash rate had declined from 1.0 per 100 000 population in December 1993 to 0.7 in December 2003. That is, there was a fall of about 25 per cent between 1993 and 2003. Fatal road crashes involving articulated trucks as a proportion of total fatal road crashes rose marginally from an average of 9.7 per cent over 1993-2002 to 9.9 per cent in 2003. The rise was as a result of the 2003 total fatal crashes declining by a greater proportion than fatal crashes involving articulated trucks. Between 1992 and 2004, single-vehicle crashes accounted for 18 per cent of all fatal crashes involving articulated trucks. For 2003 this proportion was 15 per cent, while for the first seven months of 2004 it stood at 23 per cent. New South Wales recorded the highest number of fatal crashes involving articulated trucks (36 per cent) among all jurisdictions. However, one must remember that New South Wales covers a large area and contains about onethird of the Australian population. (Author/publisher)
Abstract