The Australian Trucking Association has today released a new edition of its Truckies Top Tips [PDF], which provide motorists with advice about how to share the road safely with Australia’s 534,000 trucks.

The release coincides with the first tour by the ATA’s upgraded road safety exhibition, the $1.3 million Safety Truck.

The Chief Executive of the ATA, Stuart St Clair, said the tips would help car drivers share the road safely with trucks.

“The trucking industry is working hard to improve our safety, but we know that many of the accidents between trucks and cars are due to mistakes by car drivers. Drivers are just not taught how to share the road with trucks,” Mr St Clair said.

“Our Top Tips provide motorists with advice to help make sure everyone gets home safely at the end of the day.”

The tips include:

• Avoid blind spots. Truck drivers use their mirrors to see surrounding traffic. Sitting too close to the left passenger door or too close behind the truck may mean the driver doesn’t know you’re there.

• Do not cut in front of trucks. Truck drivers leave a large gap between their vehicle and the car in front. But don’t cut in – because of a truck’s size and weight, it needs almost twice as much room to brake as a car.

• Dip your high beams early when coming up behind a truck. A truck’s mirrors don’t have an anti-glare position.

Mr St Clair said the new edition of the Truckies Top Tips replaced the Top Ten Tips published by the ATA in 2004.

“We distributed many thousands of our original Top Ten Tips at shows, industry events and through our mobile safety exhibition,” he said.

“We’ve now brought the tips up to date and given them a fresh, cool look to match our upgraded Safety Truck and the 3D graphics that will now be a key part of our road safety campaigns,” he said.