Three shire councils in NSW’s Central West have won federal funding to develop, implement and evaluate a load restraint public education campaign.
The joint initiative of the Parkes, Forbes and Lachlan Shires – aimed at raising public awareness of the dangers of heavy vehicle load restraint breaches — has been granted a share of funding under Round 5 of the Federal Government’s Heavy Vehicle Safety Initiative (HVSI).
Federal Minister for Infrastructure, Transport and Regional Development Michael McCormack said the initiative will help the local transport industry gain a better understanding of the fundamentals of load restraint as well as to reduce the number of load restraint breaches and incidents occurring on local roads.
“The campaign will include pre and post-awareness surveys, ‘how to’ videos, fact sheets, a social media campaign, and practical load restraint information sessions,” he said.
“Success will be measured by the results of the pre/post awareness surveys, police enforcement figures, crash data and feedback from participants at the practical load restraint information sessions.”
Other projects being funded in this HSVI round target key areas such as developing or testing innovative new technologies, mental health support for drivers, educational campaigns, and training and development.
Some of the technology-focused projects include testing next-generation base tyres and trialling new mobile cameras under the National Safety Camera Network initiative to allow real-time monitoring for critical safety concerns like load limit compliance and driver fatigue.
Funding will also go to the National Heavy Vehicle Regulator (NHVR) and Transafe WA to deliver targeted educational campaigns addressing issues such as how to share the road safely with heavy vehicles.
Click here to see the full list of successful projects and find out more about the Heavy Vehicle Safety Initiative program.