WACOL, QUEENSLAND – The ATA’s road safety exhibition, the Volvo ATA Safety Truck, will be towed on its journeys across Australia by the 60,000th truck built at the Volvo plant in Wacol, Queensland.
ATA CEO Ben Maguire took the keys of the Australian made Volvo FH prime mover today, after it was unveiled last month.
Mr Maguire said the Volvo ATA Safety Truck helped fill a critical gap in driver education – the need for car drivers to know how to share the road safely with trucks.
“Eight out of ten fatal crashes between trucks and cars are not the fault of the truck driver. As part of our commitment to road safety, the ATA is providing 16-25 year old car drivers and future car drivers with the information they need to stay safe,” Mr Maguire said.
“Every year, more than 30,000 people go through the Safety Truck, some with the opportunity to sit in the cab of the prime mover. Our visitors find out why car drivers should never try to overtake a turning truck, why you should never cut in front of a truck and the location of a truck’s blind spots.
“The ATA couldn’t do this work without the support of our Foundation Sponsors, Volvo, BP and NTI. Volvo Trucks has once again shown its generosity and commitment to road safety by providing us with a prime mover to tow the exhibition. It will continue to be fuelled by BP and insured by NTI,” he said.
The Vice President of Volvo Trucks Australia, Mitch Peden, said Volvo Trucks was proud to support the Safety Truck as part of its defining commitment to road safety.
“The Volvo FH has a host of safety features, including adaptive cruise control and forward collision warning, a driver alert sensing system, a lane departure warning system and lane change support,” he said.
“But these technologies can only go so far. Other road users must understand how trucks perform – and that’s the mission of the Safety Truck.”
Volvo Trucks, BP and NTI have been the ATA’s Foundation Sponsors since 1991. Volvo has supplied prime movers for the ATA’s safety exhibition since 2008. The new prime mover will be the fourth prime mover used with the exhibition.
