In our last episode <3528BCEE.A48C0C60@klever.net.au> on Mon, 06 Apr 1998
21:30:54 +1000, Eben Levy told aus.rail:
>Having been to Melbourne on a B-double and know the work in loading and driving, it
>will make the whole thing about three times the effort, I don't know about QLD but
>in Melbourne, the cars are very ignorant to trucks, especially B-doubles, the cars
>will try to come up on the inside and get abusive when they are forced onto the
>gutter. I am wondering how they will cope with an extra trailer.
<snip of related matter>
Err, as far as I know, self-driving cars aren't on the market (yet)...
PEOPLE drive cars; cars don't drive themselves. ;-)
Nonetheless, I am glad you pointed this fact out, as these days most
accidents involving heavy vehicles are in result of errors by passenger car
drivers. It was the fault of a 4WD driver - turning in front of the truck
- that caused the accident in the first (attempted) delivery of a Sydney
Light Rail vehicle from Melbourne.
Education of ALL drivers is the responsibility of the Federal Office of
Road Safety (and State transport offices). I remember a while ago (should
be permanent) a high-profile campaign to educate passenger car drivers of
the requirements heavy vehicle drivers need to drive safely. But we all
know what the success rate is of education of the general public.
>So, in my opinion, they should not increase trucks size to carry the loads without
>actually campaigning to educate drivers or even better, use rail transport and
>upgrade the railways and not let contractors do it.
>The roads in Sydney, Melbourne
>and Brisbane aren't suitable to anything bigger then a B-double.
Tests at the Mt Cotton Driving Centre have demonstrated that the B-Triples
have been working very well, handling like a B-Double... only the B-Triple
requires a more of a wide approach for a 90 degree (intersection) turn, and
reversing is somewhat trickier (training will fix this). The B-Triples had
excellent stability, and there was only minor inclination of the rear
trailer to swerve or weave during evasive manoeuvring. Too much can make
the unit roll, so the B-Triple felt as if it was less prone to this.
Of course, the testing of the B-Triples is extensive, and I'm sure all
matters will be fixed. When articulated passenger buses were introduced
onto Australian roads, it wasn't until after they were fully in service for
some time that they found that during certain turns, the turn was too wide
for regulation. This was quickly fixed with modification(s) to the units.
"Misconception" is the biggest problem in all this.