You won’t often find truck stories on the pages of Exhaust Notes Australia, but with Scania supporting the Australian Road Safety Foundation’s Fatality Free Friday, it was hard to go past reporting on its latest announcement.
The truck company has launched a light-hearted campaign with a serious message. “It’s not you. It’s me. I need space” employs humorous relationship language suggesting that when it comes to road safety around trucks, size does matter.
With cartoon-like visuals, the imagery explains why trucks need more space for braking, don’t like cars cuddling up to them when turning, or pedestrians and other vulnerable road users lingering in blind spots at intersections.
“Very few drivers seem to understand the simple truth that a truck that may weigh 40, 60 or 80-tonnes needs more space to slow down and stop,” Scania Australia marketing director Zsuzsa Zalatnai said.
“This is why trucks leave a big gap to the car in front in traffic because their braking distances are far greater than those of other cars,” she added.
“The gap is not a tacit invitation for a car to jump in, but a much-needed safety zone. Truck drivers do resent light vehicle drivers who see that space as an opportunity to get ahead in the traffic.”
Truck drivers are trained to deliberately create a safety zone ahead of their vehicles, to ensure they can stop safely without colliding with the vehicle in front. That space is far larger than that left by drivers of light vehicles, but all that space is needed.
At speed on the freeway, a light vehicle suddenly pulling in front of a truck can cause the driver to brake heavily, unsettling the vehicle and the load, which can lead to a rollover and or a collision with other road users.
“While the elevated driving position gives good long-distance forward vision, the reality is the space surrounding the extremities of the vehicle are very hard to see, and that’s where problems arise when cyclists or pedestrians are near the vehicle.” Zsuzsa said.
“For pedestrians and cyclists, a simple rule of thumb is that if you can’t see the driver, he can’t see you. If he can’t see you, he won’t know you are there, so beware of hiding in the blind spot.”
The Scania campaign humorously asks light vehicle drivers to take more care around trucks. A little courtesy can go a long way and provide a safer driving environment for everyone.
“Fatality Free Friday calls on every road user to take responsibility for their actions and choose safer behaviours. But it’s not just about one day – it’s about making safety a daily priority,” founder and chair of ARSF, Russell White said.
“Scania would like every day to be a fatality free day, and even though our trucks are the safest on the market, all road users can make mistakes, and there are collisions as a result,” Zsuzsa added.
“A 64-tonne truck takes a lot of space to slow down, can’t change direction suddenly, and has visibility limitations compared with those of light vehicles.” The message here is clear: “Take it easy around trucks and leave us some space.”
