New And Revised ADRs To Support Truck Width Changes

New and revised Australian Design Rules necessary to support the Federal Government’s recently announced changes to truck width published and available for review

Following last week’s announcement on increases to truck width, the Federal Department of Infrastructure has wasted no time in publishing four new and six revised Australian Design Rules (ADRs) necessary to support the changes.

All became available to review on the Federal Register of Legislation (FORS) on Thursday, September 28.

The announcement increases the overall width limit from 2.50 to 2.55 metres for new trucks that are fitted with a number of safety features, including devices to reduce blind spots, electronic stability control, advanced emergency braking, a lane departure warning system, better reflective markings, and side guards to stop pedestrians and cyclists from being caught up under the rear wheels of trucks.

Additionally, several safety devices and sensors will be able to be fitted to trucks without counting towards width and length measurements. These include front and kerb view mirrors, external parts of camera monitor systems, blind spot sensors, and cross-view mirrors.

To facilitate these changes, the package includes new ADR’s for Devices for Indirect Vision (ADR 14/03), Lane Departure Warning Systems (ADR 99/00), Blind Spot Information Systems (ADR 105/00), and Side Underrun Protection (ADR 106/00).

It also incorporates amended ADRs for Definitions and Vehicle Categories (ADR), Installation of Lighting and Light Signalling Devices On Other Than L-Group Vehicles (ADR 13/00), Rear Vision Mirrors (ADR 14/02), Commercial Vehicle Brake Systems (ADR 35/07), Vehicle Configuration and Dimensions (ADR 43/04), and Advanced Emergency Braking For Omnibuses, and Medium and Heavy Goods Vehicles (ADR 97/00).

HVIA’s National Manager Policy and Government Relations, Greg Forbes, says these reforms arose from discussions around facilitating the uptake of new safety features on heavy trucks triggered by the 2018-2020 National Road Safety Action plan.

“Industry identified that Australia’s truck width regulations were an impediment to widespread adoption of new safety features. This resulted in discussions between industry and Government on using vehicle width as both an incentive and an enabler for the uptake of advanced safety technologies,” he explains.

Forbes points out that these are not the only legislative changes necessary for wider trucks to be implemented.

Separately, the National Transport Commission has drafted a set of 11 revisions to the Heavy Vehicle National Law (HVNL) and associated regulations that are required for wider trucks to be able to operate on Australia’s roads.

HVIA is currently reviewing those changes and providing feedback to the NTC. The NTC hope that the necessary changes to the HVNL can be achieved before the end of 2023 via an amendment bill in the Queensland Parliament.

If members have any concerns with the proposed changes contact either Greg Forbes (g.forbes@hvia.asn.au) or Adam Ritzinger (a.ritzinger@hvia.asn.au).

HVIA will keep members updated on further developments.