Introduction.
I first became involved in road safety in 1999 following one of those days on the road, when you really wonder where people get their licenses, out of Weet Bix packets or do they simply not care about their lives or those of anyone else? After sleeping for the night at Narrabri and only being on the road 15 minutes and not even up to highway speed, I and the car behind me, were overtaken by another car with two unrestrained children in the back with an approaching b-double heading towards us less than 200 metres away. I was in a b-double fuel tanker and both b-doubles went off the road onto the shoulder to allow the stupid motorist to safely get through.

Later that same day being fully loaded and coming down off a hill onto a narrow bridge, I flashed the oncoming F250 Ford as if to say, “Back off just a bit and I will be off the bridge before you come on”. No way. This bloke kept coming and we met before I came off the bridge and to this day, I believe I missed that vehicle and the bridge posts by millimetres. Had he just lifted his foot off the accelerator for less than 20 seconds, I would have been clear and the possibility of a crash would have been completely avoided. So I pulled up for my break and thought, “What can I do to lessen these problems?” and have been involved since.

All drivers and truckies particularly, can regale you with horror stories of crashes and near misses, most of which need not have happened, nor the risk have even occurred, had the motorist simply respected the size and weight of the larger truck. This is not about might is right, it is simple physics. As a pedestrian, you would not step out in front of a bus and simply expect it to stop because you are there. And yet everyday, car drivers who have perhaps not been taught to share the road with trucks, will pull directly out in front of a fully loaded semi or b-double and expect them to stop dead.

If through the information on these pages, one of these crashes or lives lost can be prevented, then my efforts will have been worthwhile. I make no claims to be perfect, we are all (at least supposedly) human, but not all drivers are equal and some have simply been taught to pass a test, not to spend the rest of their lives on the road, let alone to share those roads with large trucks. Fatal crashes between cars and trucks are over 70% the fault of the car driver according to crash statistics. This only confirms to me that we do need better education of car drivers about sharing the road with trucks. There is no doubt that truckies have to earn the respect their vehicles deserve and do their part to improve road safety as well.

I have now travelled in excess of 6 million kilometres on the road in vehicles from cars up to triple roadtrains and still see such foolhardy acts on the highway that risk my life and that of others. If all drivers treated people in other vehicles as if they were a member of their own family, do you think that would change some of the impatience and risky behaviours? Perhaps not a bad way to look at your time on the road. Is it your children as learners, your wife or partner in the next car, or your ageing parents going a bit steady? Either way, would you risk their lives to save yourself two minutes? I hope not, but it is up to you!

Having returned Ken’s truck, I then went back to RPT truck 7 for another year, then in 2011 Rod Pilon Transport bought a new K200 bigcab, the first in the fleet and I designed a new set of curtains that Rod never saw till I turned up with them fitted. There are few companies that would allow a driver to do this and I thank Rod Pilon for his support since the start and through now to his son Ben.

I had that white K200 for just short of ten years, did over 2 million k in it and it is still on the road with yet another Rod, driving it. The original curtains from the first TIV are on another set of RPT trailers, so they too are still putting out a good view and industry promotion as they travel the highways. TIV 2 served me very well, but now there is TIV 3 and likely the last, we will see.

June 2017 Audiobooks For The Road
I have started a facebook page to provide reviews of books I read, sometimes up to 3 a week and to seek your comments and reviews as well. I was recently invited to be a judge for audiobook of the year and want to let people know of the entertainment you can get on long trips from audiobooks. Click Here to read more.
Links to the ABC interview and Sydney Morning Herald article.

November 2026 Latest Blog Post. Listen on Spotify
Goodaye all, well I made it to the Australian College of Road Safety Conference in Sydney on Monday to speak on a panel about driver fatigue and hope it will have been worth the effort. Then off to the Castle that night, load in the morning, weather was an issue, then the freight, so back and forth and then new plan, to another site. All good and made it to nearly Injune, rang to deliver Wednesday, all good, road had just opened at Rolleston, back into Brissie, reload part Thursday morning and off to Toowoomba and as I went in the gate, a driver called and said the road open.

Load and call both on the UHF and via work to confirm, yes road now open from Toowoomba to Gundi, so off that way. Went to start the truck Friday morning, no go. Eventually a fellow came out, shook the wires and it went, then back to Dubbo and all the lights came on again. So left the truck there to be fixed, but to no avail.

Either the shifter or a wiring issue, so off soon this afternoon in another truck for a few days and will see where it goes. Hit 971,000 on Friday, so was asked but think it is still on the original clutch. Has a couple of other issues, so will chase that up as well.

Well another week, another fatal crash and I wasn’t there so I don’t know what happened, but still a tragedy, another driver who went to work to pay the bills, won’t be going home and his family will never see him alive again. I would like to see more no blame investigations, if someone has made a mistake, they have already paid the ultimate price, but hopefully that mistake, did not take the life of someone else, who may simply have been in the wrong place at the wrong time.

With no blame investigations, yes they may well decide that someone was at fault, but they also look at all the causal factors, which when you have a major crash with people hurt or killed and roads are closed etc, you really don’t want people making all that take much longer do you?

But was it the road? A dip 200 metres before the site may well be ignored or not even recognised as a factor, yet it could have sent the vehicle even slightly off track, maybe enough to cause the crash. I hit a dip, I think it was actually a failed culvert the other day and it was that savage, that something fell out of the overhead pocket on the passenger side. Now the hardest part is often describing where it is and even then, getting someone to do anything about it. But if only one driver does, then if may often be ignored.

I did call up a four wheel drive the other day after seeing him hit such a bump and he commented how bad it was, so I suggested he ring and lodge a complaint. He said he would when he get home and I hope he did, but if the road authority gets a couple of calls, rather than just one, then you would hope they may well act. Never give up! Safe Travelling, Rod.

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