Shock number of nervous young drivers prompts safety warning ahead of summer

Anxious young Victorian drivers are being urged to wise up on the dangers of driving near trucks as the state’s road toll surpasses a 15-year high.

This B-double truck crashed into the back of a school bus carrying a group of students from Ballarat’s Loreto College. Picture: Brendan Beckett

Young drivers are highly unaware of how to drive safely around trucks, new research has revealed.

In a warning issued ahead of this year’s schoolies celebrations, the national National Heavy Vehicle Regulator has uncovered a shocking lack of experience among young Australians as they gear up to hit the road to popular tourist hotspots across the country for the end of school tradition.

A nationwide survey of 1000 people aged between 16 and 25 years old found that almost 70 per cent of young people were not fully aware of rules surrounding sharing the road with trucks and other large vehicles.

Only a third knew how much space to leave between their car and a truck travelling in front of them.

An overwhelming 93 per cent of young drivers reported feeling anxious or nervous when driving near heavy vehicles.

Meanwhile, almost 65 per cent of drivers did not know how long it took for a truck to slow down or come to a stop, and less than half understood the “sheer force” of a truck.

A school bus carrying 32 people flipped on the Western Freeway at Bacchus Marsh in September last year. Picture: Brendan Beckett

The new figures come amid rising road tolls across the country, with Victoria’s road deaths at a 15-year high this year at 257 deaths.

On Friday, a 20-year-old Camberwell man died when his car collided with a truck on the Melba Highway in Glenburn.

An unidentified driver died on November 12 after a truck and a ute collided on the Midland Highway in Goornong in Victoria’s north.

Heavy vehicles such as trucks have been involved in 167 fatal crashes in Australia this year so far that have caused 190 fatalities.

NHVR chief executive Sal Petroccitto said it was crucial to improve young people’s knowledge about driving safely near trucks because most accidents involving heavy vehicles were caused by the smaller vehicle involved.

“Typically, around 70 per cent of serious incidents involving both heavy and light vehicles are the fault of the light vehicle, proving the need for greater education, and this education starts with our young drivers,” he said.

“There are very few questions in a written Learner test about driving near or around a heavy vehicle, not to mention there is no requirement for young motorists to practice driving around a heavy vehicle before they attain their licence.

“One death involving a heavy vehicle is one too many.”

Most incidents involving trucks are caused by a smaller vehicle. Picture: NCA NewsWire/Andrew Henshaw

P-plater Bec Condon urged drivers with less experience to remain on alert against potential dangers on the road.

“Learner/P-platers think they are invincible once they get on the road,” she said.

“So much more needs to be taught about how to safely and effectively drive beside, near or around a truck especially with such a big load that some of them carry.”

Fellow probationary driver Chloe Rawson-Harris said all young drivers were nervous about driving next to vehicles much larger than their own.

“I don’t think that heavy vehicle safety is common knowledge to a lot of drivers but in particular for young people,” she said.