Scania Australia has partnered with the Australian Road Safety Foundation (ARSF) to help amplify road safety messaging as well as to provide a focus on safer traffic interaction with heavy vehicles.
As part of the new collaboration, the manufacturer will also sponsor a new award that focuses on heavy commercial vehicles at the Australian Road Safety Awards. The award will recognise programmes designed to elevate road safety in the heavy vehicle industry.
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Scania Australia managing director Manfred Streit says safety is the first choice at Scania.
“Everything we do, from designing our trucks and buses, to the way we act in our company-owned workshops, is focused on promoting safe outcomes and avoiding injury,” Streit says.
“We are proud to join with ARSF to help generate greater understanding of how all road users can more safely interact with trucks and buses, as well as how drivers of heavy vehicles can take greater care to avoid vulnerable road users such as pedestrians and cyclists.”
Scania has been one of the leaders in heavy vehicle safety systems in Australia, being the only company to make side curtain anti-roll-over airbags standard at every truck door since 2018 and making vulnerable road user and anti-collision radar systems available on trucks and buses.
“Our Scania side airbags can contribute substantially to reducing injury or fatalities when a truck rolls over,” Streit says.
“In addition, Scania trucks come well-equipped with active and passive safety systems, starting with an all-steel crash-tested cabin, and backed with Autonomous Emergency Braking, Advanced Cruise Control, Lane Departure Warning, Blind Spot Warning, Collision Warning, and Vulnerable Road User warning to name a few.
“Our latest buses and trucks feature dual radars to power these Advanced Driver Assistance Systems (ADAS), which all work to warn the driver of potential hazards, but with the partnership with ARSF we hope to spread the message of road safety beyond our customers to the wider community, especially with regard to how passenger car drivers should best act around trucks and buses.”
Trucks and buses are heavy vehicles and require more space, time and braking effort to bring to a standstill, and this is why heavy vehicle drivers leave a good deal of space between themselves and the cars in front of their vehicle.
Streit says this isn’t an invitation for a car driver in a hurry to dive into this space.
“We look forward to a fruitful relationship with ARSF and hope we can in a meaningful way help to reduce the Australian road death toll as well as serious injuries incurred due to heavy vehicle accidents. 1300 annual road fatalities are too many,” Streit says.
ARSF founder Russell White says Scania’s partnership will be instrumental in building a positive culture of road safety awareness, ensuring that drivers of all vehicles – big and small – share the road responsibly.
“Heavy vehicles are essential to our transport network, and increasing awareness of how all road users can safely interact with trucks and buses is crucial to making our roads safer for everyone,” White says.
“This partnership not only amplifies vital road safety messaging but will also drive safety-first initiatives within the heavy vehicle industry – helping to inspire innovation and leadership in this space.
“Every life lost on our roads is one too many. By working together with industry leaders like Scania, we can meaningfully shift behaviours, educate road users, and ultimately save lives.”
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