Most Australian motorists are blind to the dangers of other vehicles on the road.
The latest Transurban Insights Road Safety Report found very few motorists were aware of blind spots, especially in relation to heavy vehicles and motorcycles.
It found only three percent of those surveyed could identify the five blind spots of a heavy vehicle, with more than a quarter unable to identify any, and more than a third only able to identify one blind spot.
A statement from Transurban said the research found just over half (53 percent) of survey respondents felt unsafe driving around heavy vehicles.
“We also found the number of people who feel safe around trucks has fallen over the past two years, from 35 percent (2022) to 26 percent today,” it said.
“As populations grow, demand for goods increases – and so does the number of trucks needed to carry these goods to our workplaces and homes.”
It said one way to increase safety around heavy vehicles was to learn the five truck blind spots (picture below), and to use the knowledge when sharing the road.
The survey results were only marginally better when talking about motorcycles, with 14 percent of survey respondents correctly identifying the three blind spots (picture below), with more than half only able to identify one, or no, blind spots.
More than 40 percent of respondents correctly identified the two blind sports on a car.
Read the full report: Transurban Insights: Road Safety Report. November 2024.
