The National Road Transport Association (NatRoad) has urged the Federal Government to compel all states and territories to provide comprehensive and consistent data on road trauma.
This follows the release of the National Truck Accident Research Centre (NTARC) Major Incident Report 2025.
NTARC’s 2025 report found that human factors accounted for more than 60 per cent of all major loss claims (over $50,000), overtaking environmental and mechanical causes combined.
The report analysed 1,767 major crashes in 2024, up from 1,634 the previous year, highlighting inattention and distraction as the leading causes of accidents, responsible for nearly 18 per cent of all cases.
Inadequate following distance and inappropriate speed followed, together making up another 18 per cent of human-factor crashes.
According to NTARC’s data, two-thirds of distraction-related incidentsinvolved single vehicles, reinforcing the need for operators to invest in driver awareness, fatigue management, and in-cab distraction controls.
NatRoad CEO, Warren Clark, said while it was encouraging to see progress was being made in reducing accidents, more improvements should be made.
This follows NTARC’s data revealing the number of crashes due to inappropriate speed was down 7.6 per cent, while those caused by inattention/distraction were down 1.6 per cent on the previous year.
“It’s pleasing to see some positive safety trends in the report, but there are a number of areas that need attention – and having access to the most accurate and timely data is critical to achieving that,” said Clark.
“Decisions on improving road safety need to be based on evidence, and we believe the state governments, who receive significant road funding from the Commonwealth, have an important role to play in releasing the most accurate crash data possible so safety improvements can be made where they will deliver the greatest safety outcomes.”
The NatRoad CEO said the issue of following distances causing accidents needed to be addressed.
He noted that crashes caused by drivers leaving an inadequate gap around heavy vehicles was the second most common cause of accidents in the NTARC report – particularly in urban areas.
“Drivers simply don’t understand it can take a heavy vehicle 40 per cent longer to stop than a car and often don’t leave sufficient space to avoid a collision,” he said.
“More needs to be done to educate drivers about leaving enough space for truck drivers to drive safely and react appropriately to the conditions.”
Clark pointed to initiatives, such as the National Heavy Vehicle Regulator’s (NHVR) ‘Don’t Muck with a Truck’ campaign as an example of the heavy vehicle industry taking the initiative in improving motorists’ heavy vehicle awareness.
“We’d like to see initiatives like this being met with further government funding to improve driver safety awareness around trucks,” he said.
Clark said it was also pleasing to see the report acknowledge the significant dangers truck drivers face, adding the report found that heavy vehicle drivers have ‘one of the most dangerous occupations in Australia’, and they ‘face high levels of unpredictability in the workplace’.
“That shows what a difficult and potentially dangerous task drivers face on a daily basis, which makes it all the more important we all work together – industry, governments and regulators – to improve safety outcomes for all road users,” he said.
The NTARC report is a partnership between transport and logistics insurer, NTI, the National Road Safety Partnership Program (NRSPP), and the Monash University Accident Research Centre (MUARC).
Read more news about NatRoad.
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