Fatal Light Truck Crashes in Australia

Light trucks tend to be driven by couriers, tradespeople, farmers, etc. to deliver goods locally, to transport tools and materials and a range of other short distance activities. Data used in this monograph was extracted from the ATSB fatality crash database (1992-1997) and is the latest available data.

Key findings

• At least one light truck was involved in 6 per cent of all fatal road crashes in 1996 and 1997.
• There was a 48 per cent reduction in the number of fatal light truck crashes between 1992 and 1997. By comparison, the reduction in fatal crashes for all vehicle types was six per cent.
• Fatal light truck crashes comprised multiple vehicle crashes (54 per cent), single vehicle crashes (26 per cent), and pedestrian crashes (20 per cent).
• The most common light truck crashes were head-on collisions.
• The incidence of light truck crashes was higher in rural areas than in urban areas.
• Fatigue and alcohol were the most common contributing factors in light truck crashes where the cause of the crash was attributed to the light truck driver.
• Fifteen per cent of light truck drivers had a blood alcohol concentration greater than 0.05g/100ml at the time of the crash. Compared with 3 per cent of heavy truck drivers and 24 per cent of passenger vehicle drivers.