{"id":204957,"date":"2018-03-23T19:24:45","date_gmt":"2018-03-23T09:24:45","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/southburnett.com.au\/news2\/?p=204957"},"modified":"2020-08-05T14:25:03","modified_gmt":"2020-08-05T04:25:03","slug":"survey-focus-on-ag-vehicles","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/southburnett.com.au\/news2\/2018\/03\/23\/survey-focus-on-ag-vehicles\/","title":{"rendered":"Survey Focus On Ag Vehicles"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Heavy agricultural equipment can be a common sight on rural roads, especially at harvest time<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

March 23, 2018<\/strong><\/p>\n

Researchers at James Cook University are seeking public feedback to help them find ways of minimising road accidents involving large agricultural vehicles.<\/p>\n

The online survey <\/a><\/strong> will be open until April 15.<\/p>\n

JCU Associate Professor Richard Franklin said Australian accident data was patchy but there had been at least 577 crashes involving agricultural vehicles and trailers in Australia over a decade, resulting in 24 deaths and 278 injuries.<\/p>\n

These figures suggested agricultural vehicles could raise a unique set of safety concerns.<\/p>\n

Dr Franklin said JCU\u2019s new research was being funded by the National Heavy Vehicle Regulator and The National Farmers Federation in an effort to fill the information void.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re going to explore the nature of incidents that involve large, slow-moving agricultural vehicles; we\u2019ll also be looking at people\u2019s attitudes and awareness to them and what they think about road sharing and road safety,\u201d Dr Franklin said.<\/p>\n

He said previous studies had suggested the most common crash types of large agricultural vehicles involved them running off the road, being rear-ended, or hit during overtaking manoeuvres.<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s not clear why this is,” Dr Franklin said.<\/p>\n

“While the length and width of a large vehicle may be a factor in them being hit as they are being overtaken, speed differentials may have been a factor, particularly in the rear-end crashes.\u201d<\/p>\n

Dr Franklin said it was even larger agricultural vehicles would be seen on roads in the future, driven by the need for greater efficiency and productivity.<\/p>\n

\u201cOur overall aim is to improve the safety of all road users,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n