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Reducing the risk TRL is planning to investigate why the
Page 31
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rates of truck-roll accidents have dropped recently after figures released this month showed that the problem has declined.
TRL's head of vehicle technology Ian Simmons says that in 2004 there were 595 such accidents, compared to 626 in 2003 and 635 in 2002an annual decrease of almost 5%.
TRL doesn't know why the rates are falling so dramatically. "It may be partly due to the increased interest in driver training in the last two years, and to the implementation of stability control systems in trucks," Simmons suggests.
IRE wants to carry out a detailed accident survey to get to the root of the problem and is hoping to secure government involvement in the research.
Part of the reason behind the peak in truck-roll cases during 2002 was the law change allowing 44-tanners. "When the weights went up, the centre of gravity changed so the risk of rollover became higher," says Simmons.
He adds that TRL is also working on new technology using sensors to detect and prevent potential rollover in an effort to drive down a type of accident he describes as "horrific".
"Approximately 40% of these accidents result in fatalities and you usually get traffic chaos. You get damage to the vehicles and loss of load, plus recovering the vehicle is a major exercise."