ABU DHABI // Lorry drivers should be trained to drive defensively and taught how to deal with changing driving conditions and hazards to avoid collisions, injuries and traffic violations, experts said.
“Defensive driver training that focuses on building resiliency, or that enhances hazard perception and reduces risk-taking, has been proven to reduce the risk of collisions,” said Dino Kalivas, the area training director at Emirates Driving Company.
“This year, we will be focusing on hazard perception and situation awareness across our pre- and post-licence training after a successful application of our trial projects in the previous year.”
Employers should be responsible for providing a proper driver-training curriculum and refresher courses, said Thomas Edelmann, founder of the website Road Safety UAE.
“Lorry drivers and their employers need to realise that they are responsible for their own safety and that of other road users,” he said.
Mr Kalivas said drivers of heavy vehicles in the UAE tend to be more disciplined, staying in the slow lane and observing speed limits.
“However, drivers in passenger cars can make unpredictable lane changes and do not understand that a heavy vehicle requires significantly more stopping distance because of heavy loads,” he said.
Mr Edelmann agreed, saying motorists who are mainly in faster vehicles must be respectful towards lorries and anticipate their moves.
“Lorries move and accelerate slower and need more space for certain manoeuvres,” he said. “They are also challenged with a limited visibility around their vehicles.”
Driver fatigue and poor vehicle maintenance are some of the common causes of lorry accidents.
“Fatigue is a hidden killer in a global sense,” Mr Kalivas said. “On average 20 per cent of all collisions are attributed to driver fatigue and this is equal to other much-publicised factors such as drink driving and speeding.”
In 2010, the Centre for Sleep Research in South Australia calculated that a person who has been awake for more than 17 hours is tired, and is affected much in the same way as a driver who has consumed a significant amount of alcohol, he added.
Last month, the Department of Transport released a guide for transport managers on how to develop and implement a driver-fatigue-management plan.
The plan requires managers to document their procedures for training and refresher training. This includes measures they have carried out to remind drivers of the signs of driver fatigue, and their duties and obligations not to drive when they are sleepy.
The department also came up with a manual on how to plan, carry out and record effective lorry safety inspection and maintenance procedures. The aim is to improve operating standards, reduce lorry accidents and, as a result, improve road safety.
“These measures will help drivers to operate a lorry on a daily basis and in difficult driving conditions such as fog and slippery roads,” Mr Edelmann said. “Vehicle knowledge and maintenance will enable them to safely park during a breakdown.”
rruiz@thenational.ae